Defense Primers, Costs of War, and More from CRS
Several short introductions to basic aspects of U.S. military policy have recently been updated by the Congressional Research Service. Intended for congressional consumers, they may also be useful to others.
Defense Primer: Organization of U.S. Ground Forces, CRS In Focus, updated November 16, 2018
Defense Primer: Special Operations Forces, CRS In Focus, updated November 16, 2018
Defense Primer: Navigating the NDAA, CRS In Focus, updated November 16, 2018
Defense Primer: Defense Appropriations Process, CRS In Focus, updated November 16, 2018
Defense Primer: Department of the Army and Army Command Structure, CRS In Focus, updated November 16, 2018
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It is hard even for attentive members of the public to fully comprehend the U.S. military budget.
“The scale of spending alone makes it hard to grasp. Public understanding of the costs of war is further limited by secrecy, faulty accounting, and the deferral of current costs,” I argued recently in a short paper for the Costs of War Project at Brown University. See The Costs of War: Obstacles to Public Understanding, November 14, 2018.
Neta C. Crawford of Brown University estimated the post-9/11 costs of war at $5.9 trillion through FY 2019.
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Other noteworthy new releases from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
The Global Research and Development Landscape and Implications for the Department of Defense, updated November 8, 2018
U.S. Ground Forces Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) and Artificial Intelligence (AI): Considerations for Congress, updated November 20, 2018
United States and Saudi Arabia Energy Relations, CRS In Focus, November 19, 2018
Global Human Rights: Multilateral Bodies & U.S. Participation, CRS In Focus, updated November 23, 2018
The European Union: Current Challenges and Future Prospects, updated November 15, 2018
Immigration: “Recalcitrant” Countries and the Use of Visa Sanctions to Encourage Cooperation with Alien Removals, CRS In Focus, November 15, 2018
Infrastructure Investment and the Federal Government, CRS In Focus, updated November 19, 2018
Insulin Products and the Cost of Diabetes Treatment, CRS In Focus, November 19, 2018
Quantum Information Science: Applications, Global Research and Development, and Policy Considerations, updated November 19, 2018
What Role Might the Federal Government Play in Law Enforcement Reform?, CRS In Focus, updated November 16, 2018
Who Can Serve as Acting Attorney General, CRS Legal Sidebar, November 15, 2018
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It will take consistent leadership and action to navigate the complex dangers in the region and to avoid what many analysts considered to be an increasingly possible outcome, a nuclear conflict in East Asia.
Getting into a shutdown is the easy part, getting out is much harder. Both sides will be looking to pin responsibility on each other, and the court of public opinion will have a major role to play as to who has the most leverage for getting us out.
How the United States responds to China’s nuclear buildup will shape the global nuclear balance for the rest of the century.