This study identifies five alternative strategies and, using CSIS’s Force Cost Calculator, builds a cost-capped force structure, modernization program, and readiness profile for each strategy. It then stress-tests each strategy against four sets of simultaneous conflict scenarios, which the authors devised. The study explores potential ways to mitigate the fiscal pressure forcing these strategic tradeoffs. It concludes by making recommendations for the FY 2017 defense budget and the next Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR).
The Department of Defense (DOD) faces a strategic choice: whether to focus on modernization for high-tech conflicts with China and Russia or expand forces and improve readiness to meet a superpower’s commitments for ongoing conflicts and crisis response. In their FY 2018 budgets, the services all complain that they are too small for the demands being put on them and hedge toward expanding forces and readiness. In the new DOD strategy being developed for 2019 and beyond, the services hope to pursue all three goals—expand forces, improve readiness, and increase modernization—but the fiscal future is highly uncertain, and they will likely have to make difficult trade-offs.
This report details the plans for major U.S. Defense Department acquisition programs over the next 15 years and explores the complicating factors that may make the situation more problematic for policymakers. It analyzes a range of options to mitigate the bow wave, including increasing the budget, cutting additional force structure, and making trades among major acquisition programs. The report finds that while none of the choices available are easy, it provides an opportunity for the new administration taking office in 2017 to better align modernization plans with defense strategy.
Secretions and emissions in biological systems play important signaling roles within the organism but also in its communications with the surrounding environment. This volume brings together state-of-the-art information on the role of secretions and emissions in different organs and organisms ranging from flowers and roots of plants to nematodes and human organs. The plant chapters relate information regarding the biochemistry of flower volatiles and root exudates, and their role in attracting pollinators and soil microbial communities respectively. Microbial chapters explain the biochemistry and ecology of quorum sensing and how microbial communities highly co-adapted to plants can aid in bio-energy applications by degrading ligno-cellulosic materials. Other chapters explain the biology of secretions by nematodes, algae and humans, among other organisms. This volume will be a welcome addition to the literature, as no other book covers aspects related to biological secretion in such a holistic and integrative manner.
Accelerating Cleanup at Toxic Waste Sites: Fast-tracking Environmental Actions and Decision Making presents truly innovative advances in investigative and cleanup technologies, offering valuable solutions that streamline the data collection process, speed up the time it takes to characterize a site, and expedite decision making. Using easy to understand graphic displays, tables, text summaries, and real world case studies, and by synthesizing technical and regulatory reference information crucial to the development of effective cleanup strategies, this book provides the framework for environmental professionals to develop project and program approaches that meet today's needs. An advanced text for those with at least basic understanding of environmental investigation, cleanup, regulations, decision making, and policy development, Accelerating Cleanup at Toxic Waste Sites addresses the "human" side of the environmental industry and why it is perhaps one of the most important considerations for successful accelerated cleanup. This book takes the next step by providing managers, project teams, and other professionals with approaches that bring techniques, regulations, strategies, and people together into one comprehensive package that works.
Nine-year-old Michelle describes the joys, loving times, difficulties, and other special situations involved in living with her older sister Amy Emmert, who was born severely disabled with cerebral palsy
