Transforming Defense

Even before the Bush administration in Washington began its defense reviews, the topic of transforming America's armed forces to meet the security demands of the post-Cold War era and beyond was receiving much attention. The sharp debates about the direction and impact of President George W. Bush's and Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's plans for defense reform have magnified that trend. For that reason, the theme of the Twelfth Annual Strategy Conference conducted by the U.S. Army War College in April 2001, "Transforming Defense in an Era of Peace and Prosperity," was especially timely. The ideas and issues presented in this collection of papers from that gathering will educate and inform anyone interested in the past and future course of American defense reform. Though conference attendees had many differing opinions about the barriers to defense transformation and how to overcome them, a broad consensus formed that some change is essential to meet future security requirements.