2012 Defense Strategy Review & FY 2013 Defense Budget Request: Strategy & Fiscal Constraints

Regardless of whether one is a supporter or a critic, some additional analysis regarding the formulation of the new defense strategic guidance is useful to better understand the rationale for changing defense priorities, the magnitude and impact of these changes within the Department of Defense (DOD), and the review process itself. Specifically, three questions warrant further examination: 1) Why was a DoD-level defense strategy review necessary, given the 2010 Quadrennial Review? 2) What are the implications of this new strategic guidance for the DoD? 3) What are the strategic risks? These questions are addressed by assessing the defense strategic guidance through the lens of strategy and its components: ends, ways, means and risk.