BENS is a member-driven organization, so we invite BENS members to nominate issues for possible inclusion in our policy agenda. These nominations are then measured against BENS' guiding principles:
- What is the relative importance of this issue to American security?
- Is there a likely BENS niche in which our members have credible expertise?
- Are we likely to find doable solutions?
Can we assemble adequate resources to work the issue? BENS is also guided by basic tenets regarding issues it does not address:
- We do not take positions on the size of the defense budget, believing "more is not better, less is not better, only better is better."
- We do not take positions on specific weapons systems or on military strategy, believing that these decisions rest with the military, the President and the Congress.
The Board of Directors approves additions to and sets priorities for BENS' policy agenda.
