ABSTRACT
US capabilities in the Gulf are being shaped by a long series of changes in US defense budgets, strategy, and force plans that have taken place as a result of the end of the Cold War. While it is normal to discuss such changes beginning with strategy and force plans, the driving force has been the effort to reduce defense expenditures. The military services have also encountered serious problems in adjusting their budgets to preserve readiness and modernization. They have sought to compensate for budget cuts making trade-offs to cut lower priority modernization programs and infrastructure to fund high-priority programs. At the same time, the US has succeeded in making many important trade-offs as it has down-sized its forces, it has funded many force improvements despite the cuts in defense spending, it has been able to react to many of the lessons of the Gulf War, and it has received growing support from its allies in the region.
