Carl Conetta speaks at the Time to Reset Defense conference

On March 26, 2013, the Project on Defense Alternatives and Center for International Policy sponsored a conference entitled 'Time to Reset Defense: Guidance for a More Effective and Affordable US Defense Posture,' at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Six panelists presented practical options for reshaping America's military to make it more relevant, effective, and affordable in coming years. The second presentation was by Carl Conetta of the Project on Defense Alternatives. Conetta argued that America's principal strategic challenge today is in the economic realm, not the military one -- a fact that sets today's world apart from that of the Cold War and Second World War era. This requires rebalancing the nation's priorities and policy instruments, he said. Seeing excess military spending as a drain on national strength, Conetta proposed shrinking the active-duty military by 20% over the next five years. In Conetta's view, America's future military should focus on what it does best: defense, deterrence, and crisis response. Non-military instruments and agencies would, once again, become the chief means for accomplishing preventative security tasks. Also important would be greater cooperation with rising powers, rather than competition, in pursuing common security goals.