ABSTRACT
The United States (US) needs to pursue a full spectrum defense policy, according to Jan P. Muczyk. A full spectrum defense policy is expensive indeed and must compete with pressing domestic priorities. Therefore, viable ways of making it more affordable have been presented. They include: total asset viability; looking in the right places; reducing federal bureaucracy; building weapons from low-hanging fruit; exploiting economies of scale; lesser reliance on military specifications, focused leadership education; and growing the technological fruit tree. Many fear that the economic crisis will cause the US to pull back from overseas commitments. Nations should learn lessons not only from their war experiences but from arms races as well. The US has a robust Intelligence Community—both human intelligence as well as signals intelligence. Since the US exited Second World War with its economy unscathed by the war, it could afford guns and butter for the duration of the Cold War.
