On Thursday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced a $525 billion Defense Department budget for fiscal year 2013. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) hosted a panel of defense experts who debated the implications of the new budget.
Reflecting President Obama's new strategic plan, the budget calls for base closures in Europe and a new emphasis on the Middle East and East Asia. The FY 13 budget, however, does not include an additional $88 billion required for military operations in Afghanistan.
The military spending plan also reflects roughly half of the $487 billion in defense cuts called for by the bipartisan Budget Control Act, passed on August 2, 2011.