Energy Alarmism: The Myths That Make Americans Worry about Oil

Many Americans have lost confidence in their country's "energy security" over the past several years. Because the United States is a net oil importer, and a substantial one at that, concerns about energy security naturally raise foreign policy questions. Some foreign policy analysts fear that dwindling global oil reserves are increasingly concentrated in politically unstable regions, and they call for increased U.S. efforts to stabilize -- or, alternatively, democratize -- the politically tumultuous oil-producing regions. Others allege that China is pursuing a strategy to "lock up" the world's remaining oil supplies through long-term purchase agreements and aggressive diplomacy, so they counsel that the United States outmaneuver Beijing in the "geopolitics of oil." Finally, many analysts suggest that even the "normal" political disruptions that occasionally occur in oil-producing regions (e.g., occasional wars and revolutions) hurt Americans by disrupting supply and creating price spikes. U.S. military forces, those analysts claim, are needed to enhance peace and stability in crucial oil-producing regions, particularly the Persian Gulf. Each of those fears about oil supplies is exaggerated, and none should be a focus of U.S. foreign or military policy. "Peak oil" predictions about the impending decline in global rates of oil production are based on scant evidence and dubious models of how the oil market responds to scarcity. In fact, even though oil supplies will increasingly come from unstable regions, investment to reduce the costs of finding and extracting oil is a better response to that political instability than trying to fix the political problems of faraway countries. Furthermore, Chinese efforts to lock up supplies with long-term contracts will at worst be economically neutral for the United States and may even be advantageous. The main danger stemming from China's energy policy is that current U.S. fears may become a self-fulfilling prophecy of Sino-U.S. conflict. Finally, political instability in the Persian Gulf poses surprisingly few energy security dangers, and U.S. military presence there actually exacerbates problems rather than helps to solve them. Our overarching message is simply that market forces, modified by the cartel behavior of OPEC, determine most of the key factors that affect oil supply and prices. The United States does not need to be militarily active or confrontational to allow the oil market to function, to allow oil to get to consumers, or to ensure access in coming decades

Acquisition Reform

This report reviews the six most recent major acquisition reform reports, starting in 1949 with the Hoover Commissions and including McNamara's Total Package Procurement, Fitzhugh Commission, the Commission on Government Procurement,the Grace Commission, and ending with the Packard Commission report in 1986. The reports' recommendations are devided into six areas: centralized procurement, professionalization of the acquisition corps, management improvements, changes in contracting procedures, new development strategies, and legislative/executive relations.Lean Aerospace Initiativ

Military Transformation and the Defense Industry after Next

Though still adjusting to the end of the Cold War, the defense industry is now confronted with the prospect of military transformation. Since the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, many firms have seen business improve in response to the subsequent large increase in the defense budget. But in the longer run, the defense sector\u27s military customers intend to reinvent themselves for a future that may require the acquisition of unfamiliar weapons and support systems.https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/usnwc-newport-papers/1016/thumbnail.jp

Think Again – Supplying War: Reappraising Military Logistics and Its Centrality to Strategy and War

This article argues that logistics constrains strategic opportunity while itself being heavily circumscribed by strategic and operational planning. With the academic literature all but ignoring the centrality of logistics to strategy and war, this article argues for a reappraisal of the critical role of military logistics, and posits that the study and conduct of war and strategy are incomplete at best or false at worst when they ignore this crucial component of the art of war. The article conceptualises the logistics–strategy nexus in a novel way, explores its contemporary manifestation in an age of uncertainty, and applies it to a detailed case study of UK operations in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001

Rare earth elements: simple commodity or strategic vulnerability?

Rare earths are a group of 17 elements with unique chemical, magnetic and luminescent properties crucial for the functioning of much of today’s high technology equipment, including MRIs, lap-top computers, hybrid vehicles and LEDs. They also have important applications in the defence industry. China is the dominant supplier of rare earth elements (REEs), meeting at least 85% of global demand. In 2010, REEs were splashed across the front pages of newspapers when it significantly reduced rare earth export quotas and temporarily suspended their shipment to Japan. Consumers quickly recognised that diversity of reliable supply is just as important as price and quality, and there is a concerted effort to replace, reduce and recycle REEs. So are REEs best understood as simple commodities, or as strategic resources that can be used as tools of statecraft? And can Australia play a part in the development of alternative reliable sources of rare earths? To help understand the strategic importance of REEs the National Security College and Crawford School of Public Policy welcome two global experts in the field. &nbsp

The Very Healthy US Defense Innovation System

The US defense innovation system enjoys tremendous advantages that other countries cannot readily replicate. It has accumulated capabilities over decades of funding and experimentation that dwarf other countries’ efforts, and the incentives to innovate in the United States are not easily replicable elsewhere. The unique US political system favors substitution of technology for labor, openness to new ideas, and competition among decentralized organizations to solve national security challenges. The constant worrying that the United States is losing its defense innovation advantages is simply part of the politics that keep the United States far, far ahead of its potential rivals

The Very Healthy US Defense Innovation System

The US defense innovation system enjoys tremendous advantages that other countries cannot readily replicate. It has accumulated capabilities over decades of funding and experimentation that dwarf other countries’ efforts, and the incentives to innovate in the United States are not easily replicable elsewhere. The unique US political system favors substitution of technology for labor, openness to new ideas, and competition among decentralized organizations to solve national security challenges. The constant worrying that the United States is losing its defense innovation advantages is simply part of the politics that keep the United States far, far ahead of its potential rivals

The Changing Role of America\u27s Military: A Debate

Brookings Mountain West is pleased to invite you to political debate here on the UNLV campus in collaboration with the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C. Two distinguished Brookings colleagues will be joined by experts from the University of Notre Dame for a civil debate on an important topic facing the United States today