Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Book Review: Resourcing The National Security Enterprise: Connecting The Ways And Means Of Us National Security, Christopher Sandrolini

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Edited by: Susan Bryant and Mark Troutman

Reviewed by Christopher Sandrolini, Foreign Service officer and professor, US Army War College

Foreign Service officer and US Army War College professor Christopher Sandrolini calls this anthology, which contextualizes the defense budget within federal spending, a “well-organized and lucid practical introduction to working within the confines of a bureaucracy.” He highlights and distills Bryant and Troutman’s main arguments, noting, “[m]astering these rules [of bureaucracy] is essential to turn strategies and policies into funded, viable programs.” He also discusses the book’s explanation of how the Department of Defense balances the “four pillars” framework (force …

Where The Border Ends: How Reactive Policies To Terrorism Became Conduits For Drone Technology And The Enclosure Of Wealthy Nations, Arron Mitchell

PPPA Paper Prize

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (1996) and the USA PATRIOT Act (2001) are two key examples of reactive policies enacted in response to terrorist attacks on American soil. Expedited passage of both pieces of legislation were reliant on the public’s support for government action in wake of recent atrocities. These acts gave particular attention to securing the nation’s borders, directing an increase in funding for Border Patrol in order to prevent future terrorist attacks. This essay will connect the increased funding for border security directed by Congress with the defense industry’s pursuit of funding and outlets for drone …

Secrecy Vs. Disclosure Of The Intelligence Community Budget: An Enduring Debate, Anne Daugherty Miles

Secrecy and Society

Little known U.S. congressional documents, dating from the 1970s, debate public disclosure of Intelligence Community (IC) budget. The documents offer a rich repository of the arguments on both sides of the debate and shine a light on the thoughtful, measured congressional oversight practiced in formative years of the House and Senate intelligence committees.

Offensive Cyber: Superiority Or Stuck In Legal Hurdles?, Jan Kallberg

Jan Kallberg

In recent years, offensive cyber operations have attracted significant interest from the non-Defense Department academic legal community, prompting numerous articles seeking to create a legal theory for cyber conflicts. Naturally, cyber operations should be used in an ethical way, but the hurdles generated by the legal community are staggering. At a time when the United States has already lost an estimated $4 trillion in intellectual property as a result of foreign cyber espionage, not to mention the loss of military advantage, focusing on what the United States cannot do in cyberspace only hinders efforts to defend the country from future …

The Return Of Dr. Strangelove, Jan Kallberg, Adam Lowther

Jan Kallberg

With the prospect of sequestration looming, the United States may find itself increasingly rely ing on nuclear and cy ber deterrence as an affordable means of guaranteeing national sovereignty and preventing major conflict between the U.S. and potential adversaries in the Asia-Pacific. While earlier defense planning and acquisition were based on economic conditions that no longer ex ist, Congress’s options to balance the budget by cutting defense spending are politically palatable because far fewer American are “defense v oters” relative to “social welfare voters,” according to a number of recent public opinion surveys. The simple fact is China’s rise has …

Global Assessment Of Ec Mine Action Policy And Actions 2002-2004, Russell Gasser, Robert Keeley

Global CWD Repository

The Anti-Personnel Landmine Regulation mandates an overall assessment of all EC mine action every three years. This report contains the first such assessment for the period 2002-2004. The total funding by all EC budget lines for 2002-2004 for mine action was about 116M, of which the horizontal mine action budget line was nearly 40% at 45M. The total for the same period for all EU mine action, including contributions by Member States, was about 410M, of which the dedicated budget line is just 11%. The overall assessment reviewed four areas: 1) how the APL Regulation was used to generate mine …