These are extraordinary times in American national security policy

Foreign Policyat BROOKINGSWORKING PAPERNumber 2, February 2009ResOuRces fOR “HaRd POweR:”The 2010 Budget for defense, Homeland security, and Related ProgramsMichael O’HanlonRESOURCES FOR “HARD POWER:” The 2010 Budget for Defense, Homeland Security, and Related Programs 1Working Draft, Michael O’Hanlon, February 11, 2009 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION These are extraordinary times in American national security policy. The nation remains involved in two of the longest conflicts of its history in Iraq and Afghanistan, with more than 4,000 lives lost over six years in Iraq and more than 600 lost over nearly eight years in Afghanistan, as well as cumulative costs to date approaching $700 billion in the former 2case and $200 billion in the latter. Thankfully the prognosis in Iraq appears far improved in recent years; 2009 and 2010 will be momentous times in Afghanistan as the United States doubles combat forces there in hopes of turning around the direction of the conflict. Yet despite this wartime focus, President Bush’s second secretary of defense and President Obama’s first, Robert Gates, has seemed almost as interested in helping the State Department get funding for its units focused on nation building and stabilization missions as in lobbying for defense funds. In his words, “It has become clear that America’s civilian institutions of diplomacy and development have been chronically 3undermanned and underfunded for far too long…” He also ...