Dwight D Eisenhower National Security Conference

The 2004 Eisenhower National Security Conference, the culminating event of the 2005 Dwight D. Eisenhower National Security Series, was held September 14-15. The conference presentations and discussions worked to accomplish several objectives: Provide a broad and unique forum to discuss and debate contemporary and future national security issues; Examine and advance ways to focus the instruments of national power more effectively; and Contribute to the ongoing national security dialogue while broadening the experience of midlevel and senior Army leaders through exposure to diverse issues, institutions, and perspectives.

The United States Army, in conjunction with the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, cosponsored through 2001 the annual Fletcher Conference to address prevailing and emerging national security issues. Seeking to expand the military's role in the national security debate, Army Chief of Staff General Eric K. Shinseki in 2002 created the Dwight D. Eisenhower National Security Series. Consisting of year-long events and culminating in the Eisenhower National Security Conference, the series has three objectives: to provide an open collegial forum for a candid exchange of views on contemporary and future national security requirements and priorities; to examine and advance ways to focus the instruments of national power more effectively; and to expose mid-level and senior Army leaders to diverse issues, institutions, and perspectives while contributing to the ongoing national security dialogue.

The attacks of September 11, 2001, represented the beginning of what President Bush has called "a new kind of war." While terrorism itself has long been on our spectrum of real and immediate threats, the magnitude of the attacks and the administration's aggressive and expansive response have changed the definition of national security. Homeland security, the new first priority, needs to be integrated with more traditional national security concerns. The role of the Intelligence Community must strike a new balance in terms of foreign intelligence and domestic security. The military mission should be redefined. Meeting all of these challenges demands a fundamental transformation of American strategy, armed forces, and national security organization. On November 22-23, 2002, the Strategic Studies Institute, Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and the Dwight D. Eisenhower National Security Series cosponsored a workshop on security transformation which brought together a number of the top thinkers in the field. The conference, which identified key issues and questions, was the inaugural event in a long-term project to assess defense transformation This report, by Dr. John Deutch and Dr. John White, former high-level defense officials, summarizes the discussions from that workshop. The Strategic Studies Institute is pleased to offer it as part of the ongoing assessment of the challenges and opportunities posed by defense transformation.