Release of the National Defense Panel report, “Ensuring a Strong U.S. Defense for the Future”

The National Defense Panel Review of the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review 

William J. Perry John P. Abizaid

Co-Chair

July 31, 2014 

Release of the National Defense Panel report, “Ensuring a Strong U.S. Defense for the Future”

On behalf of the co-chairs of the National Defense Panel, the United States Institute of Peace, the facilitating organization of the Panel, releases the following statement: 

Ensuring a Strong U.S. Defense for the Future, Advance Copy 

Today, we, the co-chairs of the National Defense Panel, are pleased to announce the completion of our panel’s work and the release of its report on the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review. Congress and the Department of Defense requested this independent and non-partisan review of this critical document on America’s national defense posture and we are pleased that the Panel produced a consensus report.

We wish to thank both the Department of Defense and the Congress for its support of our work over the last 11 months. The cooperative spirit on the part of all who participated in our work set an excellent backdrop for the many energetic and detailed discussions of the Panel. Such bi-partisan cooperation made the work of the Panel all the more effective. We thank our fellow panelists for their expert contributions and patience throughout this long process; they also deserve America’s thanks for their enduring dedication to the many issues of our nation’s defense.

Our report stands on its own findings and recommendations. There were no dissenting opinions. This is a consensus report. We urge both the Congress and the Department to take our recommendations to heart and expeditiously act on them. Our national security policies have served the nation well and every American has benefited from them. We must act now to address our challenges if the nation is to continue benefiting from its national security posture. This report examines our current and future security challenges and provides recommendations for ensuring a strong U.S. defense for the future.