U.S. defense budget expert will speak about current defense budget policy challenges
Date & Time: April 21, 2016 | 06:15 PM – 06:15 PM
Location: 012 Lewis Katz Building
Ryan Crotty, a former School of International Affairs student, will present "Guns or Butter: How Defense Budgets are Made" as part of the Penn State School of International Affairs’ spring colloquium: Current Policy Challenges. Crotty is the Deputy Director for Defense Budget Analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) headquartered in Washington, DC.
Professor and U.S. Ambassador (Ret.) Dennis Jett, organizes the semester long event to bring thought leaders on topics ranging from food security to terrorism. The program features 14 speakers. Colloquium topics vary depending upon the current issues of the day. The course surveys some major transnational social problems confronting the world, suggested by the Copenhagen Consensus, such as: climate change; communicable diseases; conflict and arms proliferation; access to education; financial instability; governance and corruption; malnutrition and hunger; migration; sanitation and access to clean water; and subsidies and trade barriers. The course involves team teaching and guest lecturers. The course lectures are open to the public and made available via webcast.
Ryan Crotty is a fellow with the International Security Program and deputy director for defense budget analysis at CSIS. His work focuses on the management and application of defense resources, the strategic implications of resourcing decisions, and the effects of these decisions on the defense industrial base. He has worked on several CSIS projects focused on long-term defense spending trends and the defense budget drawdown and identifying challenges and opportunities facing the Department of Defense in a time of budget tightening. He also studies the interaction between the defense budget and the health of the defense industry through analysis of contracting and financial tools. He did his graduate study in international affairs at the Pennsylvania State University, where he previously worked as a research assistant to Ambassador Dennis Jett. While at Penn State, he was a 2010 recipient of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s Strategic and Global Security Scholars Program scholarship. Previously, he worked in state government consulting in Boston, MA. He also holds a B.A. (with honors) in government and international studies from Colby College.