Everyone agrees that there is a mismatch between current military missions and resources, but opinions about how to fix it vary widely. The 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) will have to address all the relevant issues and provide useful recommendations to the new administration as it develops a new security strategy. The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College and the Georgetown University Center for Peace and Security Studies convened a conference on "Alternative Military Strategies for the United States" to highlight the key issues that will have to be analyzed by the QDR and the new administration's security planning. This report summarizes the presentations from a distinguished group of panelists that included many prominent American commentators on national security issues. The report closes with an analysis of the most important issues that must be resolved to produce a viable national security strategy for the new millennium. This strategy will require some combination of new mission priorities, additional force structure, and Department of Defense economizing. This report provides a useful overview of the various positions in those areas, and is a good starting point for those trying to grasp the intricacies of future QDR debates.

"December 2000."

Introduction -- Planning focus -- Defense transformation issues -- Keynote address -- Force structure, manpower, and modernization -- The big picture: what military strategy should be -- Conclusions -- Biographical sketches of the participants.