Post-9/11 Changes in U.S. Strategic Defense Policy

September 11, 2001 and conflicts that followed spurred a significant change in U.S. strategic defense policy, signaling a definitive end to Cold War era strategic thinking. This paper explores these policy changes in the wake of 9/11 through the examination of three important defense-related elements: use and function of the reserve component, costs of defense and resource allocation, and strategic intelligence planning under the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). For each of these elements, the author presents a comprehensive review of the existing literature surrounding the topic, followed by a case study comparing representative pre-9/11 policies with those that developed in the mid- to late-2000s. The results of the three studies shed light on the effect 9/11 and the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had on U.S. national defense policy and indicate how these effects will influence current and future defense policy. Although the role of the United States in these combat missions has all but concluded, the events and lessons learned since 9/11 will continue to shape U.S. defense policy, even in the face of new threats and strategic priorities. Thesis Advisors: Drs. Rameez Abbas and Dorothea Wolfso