The recent balanced budget accord will result in a real level of defense spending that is almost 10 percent lower in 2002 than in 1997. But the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review calls for proportionate cuts in personnel and weaponry that are only about half that size. Moreover, the U.S. military is near the end of its "procurement holiday" and will soon have to buy more equipment. In this book, Michael O'Hanlon suggests a way out of this budgetary fix.

In contrast to the current military posture calling for the United States to be capable of waging two Desert Storm-like wars at a time, he argues for a "Desert Storm plus Desert Shield plus Bosnia peacekeeping" capability as well as selected economies in weapons modernization programs to save a total of $15 billion a year.