DEFENSE MONITOR IN BRIEF

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The Bottom-Up Review (BUR), published in September 1993 by the Department of Defense, requires the U.S. to maintain military forces capable of fighting and winning two nearly simultaneous major regional conflicts (MRCs) without allies.

The BUR also calls for continuing the Cold War pattern of almost continuous "forward presence" of U.S. forces around the globe, both at fixed bases and afloat.

No nation or group of nations presents a significant threat to the security and well-being of America today.

The end of the Cold War gives the United States the opportunity to reevaluate the balance between its military and nonmilitary commitments, both at home and abroad, to support a constructive national security strategy that no longer need rest primarily on military power.

A national military strategy to fight and win two major regional conflicts sequentially rather than nearly simultaneously would permit reallocating resources to meet the President's National Security Strategy goals.

A one-war active force backed by well equipped, well trained National Guard and Reserve forces to deal with an unlikely second war would provide additional force structure, require a military budget (FY99 dollars) of $175 Billion, and produce budget savings of approximately $90 Billion by 1999.

Technological improvements, increased threat warning time, and continued innovation in multiservice and multinational operations offer the possibility for further refining the composition of U.S. military forces.