Budgets for National Security and International Affairs

Presidents are required by law to articulate a national security strategy. Unless backed by money and other resources, however, such strategy documents are little more than rhetoric. Real strategy means setting priorities and allocating resources to them—generally in the form of money and people.

The project explores how the U.S. government goes about the business of planning and resource allocation. It looks at organizations and processes in the Departments of Defense, State, and Homeland Security and in other executive branch agencies, in the White House, and in Congress. It examines how budgets are formulated as well as what they pay for, and considers how both could be improved.