A Strategy for Defense Acquisition Research

Abstract

Fifteen years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world is again experiencing a major shift in the geopolitical landscape. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War have profoundly changed the nation's security environment. However, as the September 11th attacks demonstrated, new deadly challenges have emerged from terrorist networks and rogue states. Although none of these threats equal the destructive capabilities of the Soviet Union, their determination to obtain, and the greater likelihood that they will use, weapons of mass destruction, creates a more complex and dangerous security environment.