Budgeting for Foreign Affairs and Defense
US national security policy is expressed and sustained through the dollars spent on foreign affairs, defense and intelligence. Budgets are the heart of government; they reveal a nation’s priorities behind the political rhetoric. The Stimson Center’s Budgeting for Foreign Affairs and Defense program will examine the ways in which the nation plans and budgets its national security policy. Whether it is for a $12 billion aircraft carrier or a $15 billion initiative to fight HIV/AIDS, the Stimson Center’s Budgeting for Foreign Affairs and Defense program will conduct independent analysis and provide practical solutions for US national security and improve the way we budget for foreign affairs and defense. Dr. Gordon Adams, a Distinguished Fellow at the Stimson Center, directs the program on Budgeting for Foreign Affairs and Defense.
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Current Research
Foreign Affairs » The United States spends more than $35 billion a year on diplomacy and foreign assistance – the international affairs budget. It is a complex world of multiple institutions and programs, only loosely coordinated. The program will examine the international affairs budget, its organization and processes and its linkage to US national security policies. It will look at foreign assistance programs, those dedicated to development as a goal and those that serve US security needs. It will provide practical solutions to the dilemmas of international affairs budgeting – the need for internal process reform, the right level of funding, and the difficult relationship between these budgets and spending on defense and intelligence. READ MORE »
Defense » Defense funding has risen to more than $700 billion a year, including the costs of Iraq and Afghanistan. This is higher in constant dollars than any year since World War II. Spending in virtually every category – personnel, operations, military hardware – has risen dramatically since 2001. Today, nearly 25% of defense resources come through emergency supplemental budget requests. The program will examine the contribution of this spending to national security, the difficult budget and planning environment the Defense Department will face as the Iraq war winds down, and the relationship between DOD and the other tools in the national security toolkit. READ MORE »
Intelligence » Journalistic references suggest the nation spends roughly $50 billion on intelligence – gathering and analyzing information, and conducting intelligence operations overseas. Eighty percent of this funding is the responsibility of the Department of Defense and technology absorbs a significant part of this budget. There have been major reforms in the recent past with respect to the planning and budgeting for the nation’s intelligence investment. The project will examine the world of intelligence budgeting, as available in public documents, to evaluate the success of these reforms and the potential need for other changes. READ MORE »