Publication

In preparation for the October 2000 Defense Ministerial of the Americas (DMA) in Manaus Brazil, and at the request of the US Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) studied the global trend toward the creation of Defense White Papers. While the examination of 15 defense documents worldwide showed that there is no consensus on what constitutes a "white paper", it also evinced that white papers constitute a kind of national consensus on national security issues. The authors conclude that a defense white paper's most important contribution to a country is gained from the initial national and international research, the development of a national security concept and defense policy guidance, the trade-offs in setting policy and priorities, and the consensus building among civilian and military participants that takes place in the process.