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Overarming and Underwhelming

Barry R. Posen

Foreign Policy No. 40 (Fall 1980) (With Stephen Van Evera)

If the West is weak despite outspending the Warsaw Pact, the United States should look for errors in its doctrine, force structure, and choice of weapons before it races ahead to spend even more money on the same programs. Otherwise, it may repeat past mistakes without solving current ones.