Buying National Security ─ How America Plans and Pays for Its Global Role and Safety at Home

The tools of American statecraft—defense, diplomacy, foreign and security assistance, homeland security and intelligence—are rarely examined together. Adams and Williams fill this gap by examining how these tools work, how they are planned for, and how they are budgeted. Seeing policy through the lens of the budget can help decision makers and ordinary citizens discern the genuine priorities of national leaders from the oftentimes illusory ones portrayed in rhetoric. Simply put, policies and strategies cannot be carried out without a corresponding allocation of resources.
Buying National Security weaves a tapestry around the institutions, organizations, tools, and processes that support planning and resource allocation across the breadth of the American national security enterprise. The authors analyze the planning and resource integration activities across agencies of the Executive branch as well as examine the structure and processes the Congress uses to carry out its national security oversight and budgetary responsibilities. Finally, they review the adequacy of the current structures and process and evaluate proposals for ways both might be reformed to fit the demands of the 21st century security environment.

Gordon Adams is a professor of international affairs at the School of International Service at American University and a Distinguished Fellow at the Stimson Center. He is the author of The Iron Triangle: The Politics of Defense Contracting and co-author of Transforming European Militaries: Coalition Operations and the Technology Gap.
Cindy Williams is a principal research scientist in the Security Studies Program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the editor of Holding the Line: U.S. Defense Alternatives for the Early 21st Century and Filling the Ranks: Transforming the U.S. Military Personnel System.

1. Money is Policy: Planning and Budgeting for Security and Foreign Affairs 2. Resource Planning for International Affairs and State Operations 3. Foreign Economic Assistance Budgeting and Programs 4. Political and Security Assistance Budgeting and Programs 5. Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution in the Department of Defense 6. Intelligence Planning and Budgeting 7. Resource Allocation and Budgeting for Homeland Security 8. The Role of the Executive Office of the President in National Security Budgeting 9. Resource Allocation and Budgeting in Congress 10. The Politics of National Security Budgeting 11. The Road Ahead: How Might Budgeting Change?