A balanced strategy reprogramming the Pentagon for a new age.(LEGISLATION AND POLICY)(Reprint)

[The following article originally appeared in Foreign Affairs, January/February 2009 edition. We would like to thank the Foreign Affairs for allowing us to reprint the following article. The original article is located on the web at the following web site: http://www.www.foreignaffairs. 101 faessay88103/robert-m:gates/a-balanced-strategy.html.

The defining principle of the Pentagon's new National Defense Strategy is balance. The United States (U.S.) cannot expect to eliminate national security risks through higher defense budgets, to do everything and buy everything. The Department of Defense (DoD) must set priorities and consider inescapable tradeoffs and opportunity costs.

The strategy strives for balance in three areas:

* Between trying to prevail in current conflicts and preparing for other contingencies

* Between institutionalizing capabilities such as counterinsurgency and foreign military assistance and maintaining the United States existing conventional and strategic technological edge against other military forces

* Between retaining those cultural traits that have made the U.S. armed forces successful and shedding those that hamper their ability to do what needs to be done.

Unconventional Thinking