The study was completed in December 1980 and does not reflect developments since that time.Contributions and helpful comments were received from a number of colleagues. However, opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of other staff members or of Executive Directors.

This project developed metrics to support the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program. In consultation with program leadership, the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center (HSOAC) divided the work into three lines of effort (LoEs), each of which produced metrics and/or assessment frameworks that can inform BRIC decisionmaking and performance evaluation. The findings should be of interest to those who work to make communities more resilient to natural disasters or to those who fund such work.This research was sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and conducted within the Acquisition and Development Program of HSOAC, a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC). About the Homeland Security Operational Analysis CenterThe Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Section 305 of Public Law 107-296, as codified at 6 U.S.C. 185), authorizes the secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the undersecretary for science and technology, to establish one or more FFRDCs to provide independent analysis of homeland security issues. The RAND Corporation operates HSOAC as an FFRDC for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under contract HSHQDC-16-D-00007.The HSOAC FFRDC provides the government with independent and objective analyses and advice in core areas important to the department in support of policy development, decisionmaking, alternative approaches, and new ideas on issues of significance. The HSOAC FFRDC also works with and supports other federal, state, local, tribal, and public-and private-sector organizations that make up the homeland security enterprise. The HSOAC FFRDC's research is undertaken by mutual consent with DHS and is organized as a set of discrete tasks. This report presents the results of research and analysis conducted under 70FA4018F00000128, Requirements Analysis and Specifications for FEMA.The results presented in this report do not necessarily reflect official DHS opinion or policy.

How Does Defense Spending Affect Economic Growth? I n recent years, there has been a growing debate about the U.S. role in the world, or U.S. grand strategy. A grand strategy guides choices about how to manage relations with allies and adversaries, where to forward deploy U.S. forces, and how much to spend on defense. Some analysts argue that the United States remains incredibly powerful and geographically distant from its adversaries, allowing it to remain secure with a reduced global footprint and without spending as much on defense as in previous years. 1 Others argue that the threats to the United States are plentiful and must be countered with policies that require the current or an even higher level of defense