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Laura Conley

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Climate Change, Migration, and Conflict in Northwest Africa Report
The potential for the changing climate and associated migration to induce conflict or exacerbate existing instability is now recognized in national security circles. (AP/ National Geographic)

Climate Change, Migration, and Conflict in Northwest Africa

Michael Werz and Laura Conley track how the overlays and intersections of climate change, migration, and security create an arc of tension in Northwest Africa comprising Nigeria, Niger, Algeria, and Morocco.

Michael Werz, Laura Conley

Climate Change, Migration, and Conflict Report

Climate Change, Migration, and Conflict

Growing evidence of links between climate change, migration, and conflict raise plenty of reasons for concern and it’s time to start thinking about new answers to these multifaceted crisis scenarios, write Michael Werz and Laura Conley.

Michael Werz, Laura Conley

Beyond Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Article
The Pentagon should take all reasonable steps to provide for the families of gay and lesbian service members. (Flickr/gregwest98)

Beyond Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

The Pentagon should move to ensure gay and lesbian troops have equal access to the services needed to support themselves and their families, write Laura Conley and Lawrence J. Korb.

Laura Conley, Lawrence J. Korb

A Return to Responsibility Report
The president and Congress can learn from post-World War II presidents who cut the budget and brought defense spending into balance in the face of deficits and war drawdowns. (NATO/AP)

A Return to Responsibility

Lawrence Korb, Laura Conley, and Alex Rothman explain how the president and Congress can learn from past presidents who cut the budget and brought defense spending into balance.

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley, Alex Rothman

A Historical Perspective on Defense Budgets Article

A Historical Perspective on Defense Budgets

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley, and Alex Rothman look back on how previous presidents brought defense spending into balance.

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley, Alex Rothman

Sensible Defense Cuts Article
An aerial view of the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) aircraft carrier in Norfolk, Virginia. The United States currently fields 11 aircraft carriers, while no other country has even one of comparable size and power. The Pentagon could cancel procurement of the CVN-80 aircraft carrier and retire two existing carrier battle groups and associated air wings, saving $7.74 billion. (AP/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

Sensible Defense Cuts

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley, and Alex Rothman lay out CAP’s recommendations for saving $150 billion in defense spending annually without harming U.S. security.

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley, Alex Rothman

Budget Lessons of Osama bin Laden In the News

Budget Lessons of Osama bin Laden

Lawrence Korb, Laura Conley, and Alex Rothman examine what the bin Laden operation may mean for the U.S. defense budget.

Politico

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley, Alex Rothman

Panetta’s Mission: Can He Cut the Pentagon? In the News

Panetta’s Mission: Can He Cut the Pentagon?

Lawrence J. Korb and Laura Conley examine the challenges facing Leon Panetta in bringing budget sanity to the Pentagon.

CNNMoney

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley

Defensible Budget Cuts Article
President Barack Obama smiles at George Washington University in Washington, Wednesday, April 13, 2011, prior to delivering a speech on fiscal policy. (AP/Charles Dharapak)

Defensible Budget Cuts

Lawrence Korb, Alex Rothman, and Laura Conley explain why reasonable cuts to defense spending outlined by President Obama will enhance our national security.

Lawrence J. Korb, Alex Rothman, Laura Conley

How a Shutdown Would Affect Our Military Article

How a Shutdown Would Affect Our Military

Shutting down the government would disrupt a number of critical Defense Department functions including troop pay and recruiting, write Lawrence J. Korb, Rudy deLeon, and Laura Conley.

Lawrence J. Korb, Rudy deLeon, Laura Conley

The $1 Million Soldier: What’s Wrong with How We Budget War In the News

The $1 Million Soldier: What’s Wrong with How We Budget War

The recent events in Libya have opened up an important debate about how we pay for our wars and military endeavors around the world, write Lawrence Korb and Laura Conley.

CNNMoney

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley

War in an Age of Deficits In the News

War in an Age of Deficits

As the nation moves forward with operations in Libya, questions of how these actions will affect our fiscal health will and should be unavoidable, write Lawrence Korb and Laura Conley.

CNNMoney

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley

Restoring Tricare Report
As a result of unprecedented cost growth in the Tricare system, nearly 10 percent of the baseline defense budget now goes to providing medical care for active duty, reserve, and National Guard troops and their dependents, as well as military retirees of all ages and their dependents. (AP)

Restoring Tricare

The cost of military health care could eventually begin to divert funding away from other crucial national security initiatives, write Lawrence Korb, Laura Conley, and Alex Rothman.

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley, Alex Rothman

Defense Cuts Are Mandatory Article
A V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft taxies behind the leader during a mission in western Iraqi desert. Canceling this program is one initiative that could help the Pentagon could save around $358 billion by the end of 2015. (AP/Dusan Vranic)

Defense Cuts Are Mandatory

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley, and Alex Rothman examine the need to take meaningful action on runaway defense spending.

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley, Alex Rothman

Obama’s Pentagon Cuts Not What They Seem In the News

Obama’s Pentagon Cuts Not What They Seem

Lawrence Korb and Laura Conley show what kind of defense spending cuts we should be making in CNN Money.

CNN Money

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley

Top 10 Fiscally Responsible Defense Cuts Report
Terminating the expeditionary fighting vehicle, pictured here, and updating the Corps’s current armored amphibious vehicles would save an estimated $9 to $10 billion over the next decade. (AP/Pvt. Daniel Boothe)

Top 10 Fiscally Responsible Defense Cuts

A look at 10 ways to reduce defense spending, while safeguarding our vital national security interests.

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley, Alex Rothman

Scale Back the Defense Budget Article
One budget-saving goal is the endorsement of  further reductions in defense spending over the next five years. The maintenance of 11 U.S. aircraft carriers, such as the USS Carl Vinson pictured here, seems questionable when "in terms of size and striking power, no other country has even one comparable ship.” (AP/U.S. Navy)

Scale Back the Defense Budget

Lawrence Korb and Laura Conley outline three budget-saving measures the president should address in his State of the Union address next week.

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley

We Can’t Afford to Continue “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Article
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen gestures during a briefing at the Pentagon. Adm. Mullen said that quickly repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is the “right thing to do.” (AP/Kevin Wolf)

We Can’t Afford to Continue “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Congress should pass the fiscal year 2011 National Defense Authorization Act and end a policy that hurts our moral authority and national security, write Laura Conley and Alex Rothman.

Laura Conley, Alex Rothman

Strong and Sustainable Report
An expeditionary fighting vehicle launches into the water. (U.S. Marine Corps)

Strong and Sustainable

Lawrence J. Korb and Laura Conley propose a set of defense cuts that can cut our deficit while still maintaining national security.

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley

Obama Is on Track with Iraqi Troop Withdrawal Article
U.S. Army Col. John Norris, commander of the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, waits for the last Stryker armored vehicle carrying his soldiers to arrive after crossing into Kuwait from Iraq on August 19, 2010. (AP/Maya Alleruzzo)

Obama Is on Track with Iraqi Troop Withdrawal

The withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq is important, write Lawrence J. Korb and Laura Conley. But now it’s up to Iraqis to work toward stability.

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley

Defense Spending Bait and Switch Article
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen prepare to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the Defense Department's budget earlier this year. (AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Defense Spending Bait and Switch

Congress says it supports budget cuts to unnecessary programs, but needs to act on it, write Lawrence Korb, Sean Duggan, and Laura Conley.

Lawrence J. Korb, Sean Duggan, Laura Conley

Avoiding Eisenhower’s Worst Fear Article
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates speaks to students at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas on May 7, 2010. (AP/Defense Department)

Avoiding Eisenhower’s Worst Fear

Recent speeches from Secretary Gates show he’s starting to argue what CAP has said all along—budget reform can strengthen the military and the economy, write Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley, and Sean Duggan.

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley, Sean Duggan

We Can’t Wait on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Article
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen arrive on Capitol Hill in February to testify before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on

We Can’t Wait on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

We can't wait to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Congress can move forward while the Pentagon decides how to implement the change, write Lawrence Korb and Laura Conley.

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley

Climate Is a Security Issue Article
A young Papua New Guinean girl, who is believed to have contracted malaria, sleeps on the front porch of her bayside shack. Scientists report that malaria will begin spreading to new areas as the climate warms. (AP/David Longstreath)

Climate Is a Security Issue

Recent Defense Department reports show that the agency is not yet speaking with one voice on climate security like it should be, writes Laura Conley.

Laura Conley

Slimming Down the Defense Budget Article
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Defense Department's budget on February 2, 2010. (AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Slimming Down the Defense Budget

The Defense Department will need to begin cutting unnecessary and underperforming programs to bring the budget under control, write Lawrence Korb, Laura Conley, and Sean Duggan.

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley, Sean Duggan

Overall Strategy Is Needed Article

Overall Strategy Is Needed

Lawrence J. Korb, Laura Conley and Sean Duggan tackle President Barack Obama's many pressing national security decisions that stem from our growing involvement in Afghanistan.

Lawrence J. Korb, Sean Duggan, Laura Conley

Integrating Security Report
The Obama administration faces an array of security challenges, and success will depend on ensuring its policies live up to our shared values and how ably it can draw on the U.S. government's full capabilities and tear down the bureaucratic boundaries between agencies. (AP/Kevin L. Moses, Sr.)

Integrating Security

Lawrence J. Korb, Sean Duggan, and Laura Conley present a new progressive agenda for national security in this report.

Lawrence J. Korb, Sean Duggan, Laura Conley