Holding the Line: U.S. Defense Alternatives for the 21st Century [Paperback]

BCSIA (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Belfer Center Studies in International Security | Publication Date: January 22, 2001

Since the end of the Cold War, the US military has reduced its combat forces by 40 percent, closed about 20 percent of its bases, and withdrawn from many overseas posts. Even after these changes, the US military is by far the strongest in the world, with huge advantages in training, equipment, and technology. Despite cutting its annual spending by about 30 percent, the United States spends more than the countries with the six next-largest military budgets combined.Heated debates continue to rage over US military spending. In the late 1990s, many commentators claimed that spending was too low, and the defense budget began to increase for the first time since the mid-1980s. Others argued that the United States had taken on too many military missions -- including frequent humanitarian interventions or peacekeeping operations -- and needed to scale back these deployments.Holding the Line presents objective and detailed assessments of the US defense budget and America's military strategy. Its contributors conclude that the United States must reshape its military to face the real challenges of the coming decades. They call for smaller US forces with more modern weapons, sensors, avionics, and communications systems. They offer recommendations that would enable the US military to transform its forces and make them more effective, while holding the line on defense budget increases.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A must-read book for everyone who cares about the future of the United States military." Andrew Krepinevich, Executive Director, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments

"*Holding the Line* assumes that defense spending will not rise dramatically in the coming decade and suggests instead that a new military strategy is needed to close the current gap between our security requirements and allocated resources. Some may resist the argument that defense spending is unlikely to rise, but a new military strategy for the post-Cold War era is long overdue. This book provides a challenging discussion of alternative military strategies for our new security environment, and it is a good starting point for a debate over the hard strategic choices that must be made."--Carlisle A. Trost, USN (RET), U.S. Chief of Naval Operations 1986-90

"Plans are afoot to increase American defense spending to Cold War levels, even though the United States has no serious rival anywhere on the globe. Such foolishness is only possible because the American economy is booming today. But a slowdown is coming, which is going to create significant pressures to cut the Pentagon's budget and reorganize its fighting forces. *Holding the Line* anticipates that day of reckoning and offers all sorts of interesting and important insights on building an affordable military for the 21st century. It will be a must read for those who have to wrestle with the Pentagon's coming budget crunch."--John J. Mearsheimer, R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago

"This book is a must for those wishing to understand the evolving US defense debate." The Key Reporter

"*Offense, Defense, and War* is sure to be an invaluable book for students of international politics. It contains virtually all of the key works on offense-defense theory, a truly important set of ideas about how states behave toward each other."--John J. Mearsheimer, R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago

About the Author

Cindy Williams is Principal Research Scientist in the Security Studies Program at MIT.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (January 22, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262731401
• ISBN-13: 978-0262731409
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #911,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Must Read" if interested in US defense strategy & forces, May 4, 2001

By 

Steven Kosiak (Maryland United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Holding the Line: U.S. Defense Alternatives for the 21st Century (Paperback)

Anyone, whether expert or non-expert, with an interest in US national security strategy, military plans and policies, or federal budget priorities more generally, is likely to find this book a very useful, enjoyable and provocative read. The book argues quite persuasively that US national security requirements can be effectively met without significantly increasing defense spending over the next decade. But one doesn't have to agree with this conclusion to find the book extremely valuable. It's nine chapters, each written by a different expert in the defense policy and budget fields, cover the key issues confronting US strategists and defense planners today. These include three different chapters dealing with how the US military should be reshaped to meet emerging new challenges--like the proliferation of cruise and ballistic missiles, and the possible rise of China or another peer competitor--without "breaking the bank." Each of these three chapters suggests a very different approach. One envisions a more dominant role for the Army, while the other two focus on enhanced roles for the Navy and Air Force. But all of them would entail shifting dramatically away from the Defense Department's current plans and posture, and living within essentially today's budget levels. One of the great features of the book is that the chapters generally combine broad policy discussions of key assumptions and issues (e.g., US national interests and the role of military force), with concrete, detailed programmatic and policy recommendations (e.g., which new weapon systems to cancel, or accelerate). In addition to the three chapters already mentioned, the book also contains impressive chapters covering the role of US allies, US nuclear forces, and the potential for making the Defense Department more efficient (including a discussion of the practical limits of such efforts). Lastly, this book comes at an exceedingly opportune time--with the new Bush Administration preparing to soon offer its own, possibly very different, and likely controversial, proposal for how the US military should be changed to better reflect post-Cold War realities.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coherent Analysis of National Strategy and Force Structure, November 26, 2001

By 

W. M. Beers (Chapel Hill, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holding the Line: U.S. Defense Alternatives for the 21st Century (Paperback)

For those interested in learning about the development of our national strategy and defense budget since the mid-80s and how we should direct our strategic focus and force structure towards a more economical and effective end, Dr. Cindy Williams' compilation of articles would be a superb choice.

Dr. Williams explains that neither the "business approach", the "NATO and allies burden-sharing approach", nor the "nuclear reductions approach" has achieved the kinds of defense cuts that the government is seeking.

She and six other policy experts explain why these approaches have not worked and what kinds of solutions will work for restructuring the armed forces in line with a "selective engagement" approach to internationalism and in line with reconciling policy-in-theory with policy-in-practice.

I'm only an undergraduate, so I can't speak to how well experts receive the book, but I found it to be very thorough and timely, despite having been published prior to 9-11. One would be hard-pressed to find a consolidation of the recent history and development of defense spending, budget allocations, and national strategy in another book as well-written as this.