Militaries evolved from Threat to Capability based planning (CBP) after cold war era; now need Threat cum Capability planning to achieve national security objectives.

After the end of cold war, a new process for Defence planning was developed known as Capability-Based Planning (CBP). Capability-Based Planning was officially introduced into the U.S. military establishment in the 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). “A capability-based strategy [is] one that focuses less on who might threaten us or where we might be threatened (Threat based approach), and more on how we might be threatened and what we need to do to deter and defend against such threats,” said Rumsfeld.

CBP has been widely adopted by many countries and many organizations apart from defence. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began its adaptation and application of CBP in 2004, in response to presidential directive HSPD-839 to develop a national domestic all-hazards preparedness goal (‘Goal’) with mechanisms for improved delivery of Federal preparedness assistance to State and local governments. Australia has used CBP to plan and develop military capability since the 1970s. As there is no dominating threat or overriding hazard to the country’s security, strategic military planning considers a broad range of contingencies and threats.