Publications
"Nobody does defense policy better than CSBA. Their work on strategic and budgetary topics manages to combine first-rate quality and in-depth research with timeliness and accessibility—which is why so many professionals consider their products indispensable." – Gideon Rose, Editor of Foreign Affairs, 2010-2021
Search Publications
Testimonies
Testimony Before the House Appropriations Committee Defense Subcommittee Hearing on Future Defense Spending
On February 24, 2021, CSBA President and CEO Dr. Thomas G. Mahnken testified before the House Appropriations Committee Defense Subcommittee. Dr. Mahnken was invited to appear before the Committee to discuss future defense spending priorities, along with the long-term implications of current budget debates.
Studies
America’s Strategic Choices: Defense Spending in a Post-COVID-19 World
This report summarizes the findings of two Strategic Choices Exercises hosted by The Ronald Reagan Institute and CSBA in October 2020, convening a bipartisan group of senior defense and budget experts, current and former policy makers, and industry leaders. The initiative was supported by the National Defense Industrial Association.
Studies
Did Dollars Follow Strategy? A Review of the FY 2020 Defense Budget
On 1 October, the U.S. federal government ushers in its Fiscal Year (FY) 2020. If policymakers approve the $738 billion national defense budget – the amount agreed to by the White House and Congressional leaders in a July 2019 agreement – military spending will have increased in real terms for the fifth consecutive year.
Briefs
The European Deterrence Initiative
It is far from smooth sailing for the European Deterrence Initiative (EDI) as it confronts risks to the way in which it is funded. This brief seeks to explain why the EDI was started, what it funds, and the budgetary challenges it faces to its implementation and sustainment.
Studies
Analysis of the FY 2018 Defense Budget and Trends in Defense Spending
President Trump’s FY 2018 defense budget promises a “historic” defense buildup. At $603 billion in the base national defense budget, some $54 billion over the Budget Control Act caps, it grows the size of military slightly and boosts RDT&E efforts, but doesn’t move the needle on procurement. Does the FY 2018 budget request build the military the U.S. needs? Will Congress succeed in funding more for defense?
Studies
FY 2018 Weapon Systems Factbook
Each year, the Department of Defense (DoD) submits Selected Acquisition Reports (SARs) to Congress detailing the status, plans, procurement quantities, and funding requirements for each Major Defense Acquisition Program (MDAP). These represent DoD’s largest and most expensive acquisition efforts. The most recent unclassified SARs, which were submitted in December 2016 and are consistent with the President’s FY 2018 budget request, include 87 programs, some of which extend more than 20 years into the future.