Defense Secretary Robert Gates's proposed defense budget shifts announced last month have been met with a range of reactions. While some argue that the various programmatic cuts and adjustments represent an effort to better equip our forces for the wars we are in, others suggest that the budget reorientation--having been announced prior to the completion of the Quadrennial Defense Review--was driven more by fiscal constraints than strategic demands.

What are the strategic implications of Secretary Gates's proposed budget shifts? Are the budgetary priorities laid out in the secretary's plan consistent with the range of U.S. international security responsibilities? At this event, Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, will address these and other questions in a keynote speech.

Following Senator Chambliss's address, AEI scholars Thomas Donnelly, Frederick W. Kagan, and Michael Auslin, along with former principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for international security policy David J. Trachtenberg, will discuss the initial conclusions of a recent AEI planning exercise modeled on the Quadrennial Defense Review process.