National Security Report: Background and Perspective on Important National Security and Defense Policy Issues. Volume 1, Issue 4

On May 15, the Defense Department is scheduled to submit to Congress the results of the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), the blueprint that is intended to shape American military strategy and determine the structure of U.S. forces in the future. Though the final version of the QDR has yet to be released, extensive press accounts and other sources reveal the scope of the review and the course it is taking. From the outset, the review's one fixed variable has been the size of the defense budget. Despite vows by senior Department of Defense civilian and military officials that "everything is on the table," the underlying premise of the QDR is the assumption that the defense budget cannot be increased. For several months, Secretary of Defense William Cohen has maintained that "the QDR is not, in essence, a budget-driven exercise... .What we're doing in this QDR is trying to find the right mix of strategy, programs, and resources." But Cohen also has said, "Just as we have to be realistic about the many threats that we face in the world today, we have to be realistic about the kind of environment that we re operating in as far as fiscal restraint.