CIAO DATE: 06/05

Keeping the Edge: Managing Defense for the Future

Ashton B. Carter and John P. White

MIT Press

May 2001

 

Abstract

Most national security debates concern the outcomes of policies, neglecting the means by which those policies are implemented. This book argues that although the US military is the finest fighting force in the world, the system that supports it is in disrepair. Operating with Cold War-era structures and practices, it is subject to managerial and organizational problems that increasingly threaten our military's effectiveness.

Keeping the Edge goes beyond questions of Pentagon reorganization and weapons procurement to explore how the US defense establishment can improve its readiness, logistics, and ability to attract and retain qualified personnel. It also looks at how the US military can exploit information technology more effectively, improve its intelligence, and counter asymmetric threats. More comprehensive than the usual exhortation to cut waste, fraud, and abuse at the Pentagon, the book in fact recommends changes in many government agencies, not just the Department of Defense. It shows how the US can improve its ability to implement its policies and to anticipate and adapt to a changing and uncertain world.

Ashton B. Carter is Ford Foundation Professor of Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and Co-director of the Preventive Defense Project.

John P. White is Lecturer in Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government and an Affiliate of the Preventive Defense Project.

 

Table of Contents

Preface to the MIT Press Edition

Preface and Acknowledgments

1. Keeping the Edge: Managing Defense for the Future (PDF, 27 pgs, 143 KB)
   Ashton B. Carter

2. Keeping the Edge in Joint Operations
   John M. Shalikashvili with Bruce Rember, Phil Ehr, and Thomas Longstreth

3. Exploiting the Internet Revolution
   Victor A. DeMarines with David Lehman and John Quilty

4. Keeping the Edge in Intelligence
   Ashton B. Carter with Marcel Lettre and Shane Smith

5. Countering Asymmetric Threats
   Ashton B. Carter and William J. Perry with David Aidekman

6. Keeping the Technological Edge
   Ashton B. Carter with Marcel Lettre and Shane Smith

7. Advancing the Revolution in Business Affairs
   Michael J. Lippitz, Sean O'Keefe, and John P. White with John Brown

8. Ensuring Quality People in Defense
   David S.C. Chu and John P. White with Nurith Berstein and John Brown

9. Managing the Pentagon's International Relations
   Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall with Christiana Briggs and Anja Miller

10. Strengthening the National Security Interagency Process
    John Deutch, Arnold Kanter, and Brent Scowcroft with Christopher Hornbarger

11. Implementing Change
    Judith A. Miller

About the Core Group and the Authors

Index

About the Preventive Defense Project

About the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs