In Brief: Assessing DOD’s New Strategic Guidance

Catherine Dale
Specialist in International Security

Pat Towell
Specialist in U.S. Defense Policy and Budget

On January 5, 2012, President Obama announced new defense strategic guidance entitled “Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense.”1 This new guidance is significant because it is explicitly intended to reshape future Department of Defense (DOD) priorities, activities, and budget requests for the next decade. While the guidance is intended to steer DOD decision-making as it reduces defense spending by about $487 billion over the next 10 years, to meet the initial budget caps set in the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011, it does not account for the possibility of sequestration—further significant, across-the-board cuts that could be required pursuant to implementation of the BCA. Defense officials have stated that, were they directed to find an additional $500 billion in cuts, this guidance would not apply, and DOD would have to shed “missions and commitments and capabilities that we believe are necessary to protect core U.S. national security interests.”2 This CRS report highlights and analyzes key strategic-level issues raised by the new guidance.


Date of Report: January 12, 2012
Number of Pages: 9
Order Number: R42146
Price: $19.95

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