Transitioning Defense Organizational Initiatives: An Assessment of Key 2001-2008 Defense Reforms
Abstract
Presidential transitions often bring the promise of new opportunities and the threat of reversing key advances. In the United States, the change from one administration to the next is by its very nature a political event. Political calculations about the initiatives of one's predecessor, in turn, can sometimes outweigh policy considerations of their value where the two may seem in conflict. Making such a determination requires an accurate understanding of how issues have evolved and been resolved, and an assessment of the adequacy of action to date. In March 2008, the Defense and National Security Group and the Defense Industry Initiatives Group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) began a study effort aimed at informing the next Secretary of Defense's transition decisions. The CSIS study team focused where it felt it could provide the most value to incoming decision-makers, assessing that set of little understood defense organizational and process changes that the George W. Bush administration has implemented in an attempt to improve the Defense Department's internal operations. In so doing, the team sought to complement rather than replicate the strong body of existing and ongoing work relating to the advisability of continuing "hot button" policies related to Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, and other prominent topics. The CSIS study team's efforts were sponsored by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (OUSD(P)), but its findings and recommendations are independent of Department of Defense (DoD) influence and partisan sentiment. This report presents the study team's analysis. It incorporates a wide range of personal interviews with key Bush administration defense officials, career civilian and military subject matter experts, and leading outside defense thinkers, including senior leaders from prior administrations. It also relies on the extensive written record that exists on many of these issues.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA491441
Entities
People
- Christine E. Wormuth
- Clark A. Murdock
- David Berteau
- Eleanore Douglas
- Nathan Freier
- Samuel J. Brannen
Organizations
- Center for Strategic and International Studies