Thinking Strategically: Economics, Resources, and Strategy
.By Mie Augier & Sean F. X. BarrettMarch 08, 2022
Thinking Strategically: Economics, Resources, and StrategyCBO
As President Eisenhower noted, the foundation of military strength is our economic strength. In a few short years, however, we will be paying interest on our debt, and it will be a bigger bill than what we pay today for defense . . . No nation in history has maintained its military power if it failed to keep its fiscal house in order.
—Gen James N. Mattis, USMC (Ret.), 2015[1]
Fiscal realities dictate that we must first divest of legacy programs in order to generate the resources needed to invest in future capabilities.
—General David H. Berger, USMC[2]
Introduction
U.S. military leaders have, in recent years, expressed concern about the deleterious effects of continuing resolutions, budgetary uncertainty, and increasing national debt on balancing the tradeoffs between readiness and future force capabilities.[3] An indication of ongoing fiscal challenges is that Marine Corps General David Berger has sought to secure funding for necessary future capabilities in the U.S. Marine Corps by divesting select legacy capabilities and capacities, thus harvesting budget space.[4] A heightened sensitivity to the importance of tradeoffs between today’s important capabilities and obtaining tomorrow’s vital priorities reflects a renewed focus by national security leaders on the interrelationship between the national and global economy, resource management, and strategy.
The wicked, ill-structured, and interactively complex problems of the present and future environment necessitate a problem solving approach rooted in a holistic understanding that is liberated from conventional bureaucratic silos…
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2022/03/08/thinking_strategically_economics_resources_and_strategy_820559.html
