07:53 GMT, February 8, 2010 The United States Institute of Peace has been named to be the official convener of the National Defense Panel, a congressionally mandated independent panel selected to review the Department of Defense’s Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). The Institute most recently served as convener of the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States and was one of the conveners of the Iraq Study Group.

The QDR was released on February 1 alongside the administration’s FY2011 budget request. The 2010 QDR assesses the challenges the nation faces and evaluates whether DoD’s strategies, capabilities, and forces are appropriately configured to address today’s conflicts and tomorrow’s threats. The National Defense Panel, co-chaired by Dr. William Perry, former Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton, and Stephen J. Hadley, former National Security Adviser to President George Bush, is charged with assessing the QDR, its recommendations, stated and implied assumptions, and any vulnerabilities of the strategy and force structure underlying the report. Its report is due to Congress by July 15, 2010.

The QDR review panel consists of 20 members, 12 of whom are appointed by the Secretary of Defense and the other eight appointed by Congress. Members appointed by the Secretary are:
• The Honorable William J. Perry, Co-Chair
• The Honorable Stephen J. Hadley, Co-Chair
• The Honorable Richard L. Armitage
• The Honorable Jack Dyer Crouch II
• The Honorable Rudy F. deLeon
• The Honorable Joan A. Dempsey
• The Honorable Sherri W. Goodman
• Admiral David E. Jeremiah, USN (Ret)
• General George A. Joulwan, USA (Ret)
• The Honorable Alice C. Maroni
• Lieutenant General Paul Van Riper, USMC (Ret)
• General Larry D. Welch, USAF (Ret)

Members appointed by Congress are:
• The Honorable Charles Curtis
• The Honorable Eric S. Edelman
• General John (Jack) Keane, USA (Ret)
• Dr. Richard H. Kohn
• The Honorable John F. Lehman, Jr.
• Dr. John Nagl
• Major General Robert H. Scales, Jr. USA (Ret)
• The Honorable James M. Talent