• About
    • Mission
    • Biographical Information
    • Contact Us
  • Defense
  • Energy
  • Logistics
  • Innovation
  • In the News
  • Follow
  • Like
  • Linkedin
  • Youtube
July 30, 2009November 12, 2013Daniel Gouré, Ph.D.

← Back
← Previous Post
Next Post →

QDR (III): Partnering Requires Streamlined Foreign Military Sales Process

July 30, 2009November 12, 2013Daniel Gouré, Ph.D.

One of the Quadrennial Defense Review’s (QDR) central themes is the need to build partnership capacity. This means providing friends and allies with the capabilities and training needed to take greater responsibility for their own security. If senior defense leaders want to have a substantial and immediate impact on the capacity of friends and allies then make sure the QDR addresses revising the foreign military sales (FMS) process. For example, even as U.S. forces plan their withdrawal from Iraq, that nation’s ability to acquire much needed U.S. weapons and training is being held up because the FMS bureaucrats have judged Iraq to be a bad credit risk.

Similarly, antiquated restrictions on the export of U.S. advanced military technologies have long stood in the way of providing our partners with needed capabilities and preserving U.S. defense jobs. Were it not for Congressional roadblocks, the F-22 could have been offered to U.S. allies, most notably Japan, thereby improving its self-defense capability and preserving the production line. Instead of worrying about how the services plan to organize and train for the mission of building partnership capacity, the QDR would do more good by proposing concrete changes to the FMS and export control processes.

Print | PDF | EMail

Find Archived Articles:

This entry was posted in Early Warning Blog. Bookmark the permalink.
Sign Up For
LexNext Emails
1600 Wilson Boulevard - Suite 203
Arlington, VA 22209 USA
Phone: 703.522.5828
Fax: 703.522.5837
© 2023 Lexington Institute

Sign Up for LexNext Emails

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Sign Up for LexNext Emails

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.