This online version of a 60-page Issue Brief from the Center for Defense Information is "designed to offer unbiased, in-depth, and up-to-date information on all aspects of the National Missile Defense (NMD) debate." The brief contains articles offering a history of ballistic missiles and the NMD -- including a chronology of US National Missile Defense programs, an assessment of the current missile...

Every four years, the military issues the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) Report, a document that is key in setting military goals and priorities. This 79-page report, issued September 30, 2001, is divided into seven main sections (e.g., Defense Strategy, Revitalizing the DoD Establishment) and includes a statement by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The report explains that, "Even...

Forwarded to the President and Congress annually, the Secretary of Defense's Annual Defense Report serves as "a basic reference document for those interested in national defense issues and programs." The Department of Defense (DOD) Annual Defense Report page contains previous reports to 1995 and an internal search engine.

A high-level security conference in Munich this weekend exposed rifts between the US and its European allies on the issues of a US missile defense system and the deployment of a "rapid reaction" European Union force. The US missile defense system took center stage over the weekend as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced the Bush administration's plan to go ahead with development and...

On May 19, 1997, as mandated by the National Defense Authorization Act of 1996, US Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen presented the Quadrennial Defense Review to Congress. This site contains the May 19 Defense Department news release and briefing (along with slides), the text of the report, and the legislation mandating it. The report is composed of ten sections ranging from "The Global...