Crafting a mechanism for better connecting defense strategy to programmatic choices Many observers have noted that past formulations of American military strategy, such as the Shape, Respond, Prepare Now approach that the Department of Defense used from 1997 until 2001, have been longer on philosophy than on practicalities. To address those shortcomings, this report outlines a preliminary framework designed to better link strategy with resource priorities and more accurately frame key investment choices. This report contains the results of a study designed to assist the Department of Defense in its efforts to refine the defense strategy in light of recent experiences and to address expectations about future challenges to U.S. national security. The framework model presented in this report provides a space in which decisionmakers can display strategic options and their inherent tradeoffs, debate the merits of those competing choices, and then decide on a specific strategy.