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12
WHAT TO DO?
A GLOBAL STRATEGY
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12.1 REFLECTING ON A GENERATIONAL CHALLENGE
Th re e year s a f te r 9/11, Americans are still thinking and talking about
how to protect our nation in this new era.The national debate continues.
Countering terrorism has become, beyond any doubt, the top national
security priority for the United States. This shift has occurred with the full
support of the Congress, both major political parties, the media, and the Amer-
ican people.
The nation has committed enormous resources to national security and to
countering terrorism. Between fiscal year 2001, the last budget adopted before
9/11, and the present fiscal year 2004, total federal spending on defense (includ-
ing expenditures on both Iraq and Afghanistan), homeland security, and inter-
national affairs rose more than 50 percent, from $354 billion to about $547
billion.The United States has not experienced such a rapid surge in national
security spending since the Korean War.
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This pattern has occurred before in American history. The United States
faces a sudden crisis and summons a tremendous exertion of national energy.
Then, as that surge transforms the landscape, comes a time for reflection and
reevaluation. Some programs and even agencies are discarded; others are
invented or redesigned. Private firms and engaged citizens redefine their rela-
tionships with government, working through the processes of the American
republic.
Now is the time for that reflection and reevaluation.The United States should
consider what to do--the shape and objectives of a strategy. Americans should
also consider how to do it--organizing their government in a different way.
Defining the Threat
In the post-9/11 world, threats are defined more by the fault lines within soci-
eties than by the territorial boundaries between them. From terrorism to global
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