CRS Issue Statement on Military Strategies and Force Structure

Stephen Daggett, Coordinator
Specialist in Defense Policy and Budgets

he 111th Congress will be presented with a wide range of national security issues as the U.S. government undertakes both the intellectual and practical task of updating and revising its military strategy and force planning to meet the demands of a rapidly changing international security environment. Much of the discussion will be shaped by the congressionally mandated Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), on which the Defense Department is required to issue a report no later than February 2010, when the President's budget is due to Congress. The QDR normally follows a statement of National Security Strategy by the White House. The strategy report is required to define U.S. global interests and objectives and to describe the foreign policy as well as military capabilities needed to implement U.S. national security strategy. The new Administration has not completed a report, however, leaving many aspects of national security strategy yet to be fully defined. 

In recent years, it has very widely been agreed that the global security environment necessitates an "all of government" approach to national security that combines "soft power" skills, most often applied by civilian agencies, with the military's traditional "hard power." A great deal of interest has been expressed in reexamining how well the U.S. government is organized to apply all instruments of national power to achieve its national security objectives, how to balance major roles and responsibilities among key agencies, and how to integrate agency efforts. The shift of economic strength from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and the rise of China as a major global power, may become a matter of increasing congressional attention in shaping global economic policy, foreign policy, and defense strategy. Meanwhile, managing the drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq and assessing the effectiveness of the Administration's expanded, though not open-ended, commitment in Afghanistan will remain a major focus of congressional oversight and debate.


Date of Report: January 13, 2010
Number of Pages: 3
Order Number: IS40350
Price: $7.95

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