A Recommended Agenda for the Next Secretary of Defense by Andrew Philip Hunter, Ryan Crotty, Gregory Sanders, Maren Leed, Melissa Dalton, John Schaus, and T.J. Cipoletti, Center for Strategic and International Studies Report.
President Obama is expected to announce in the coming days his nominee to be the next Secretary of Defense. Whoever the next Secretary is, the expectation is that the individual will have a wealth of experience within the Defense Department to draw from. Recruiting an experienced hand at this critical moment will reassure many who worry about the state of the American military. For some critics, however, the more pressing concern will be understanding the nominee’s stance on the major security matters facing the United States today and his or her willingness to challenge administration policy on those issues.
Crises around the world will no doubt continue to dominate the headlines, and to drive meetings of the National Security Council. Against this backdrop, the next Secretary will be significantly challenged to ensure a sustained focus on issues that are important to the U.S. military and national security, but less urgent than items in the daily inbox. CSIS’s International Security Program asked seven of its scholars to recommend which of those important issues should be at the top of the agenda for the next Secretary of Defense. Each scholar also offers recommendations for priority action by the next secretary on these issues.