Marine Colonel Explains How Wars Are Funded - Mark Cancian & Cassian Peña

What role does military budgeting play in national security? And how does it shape the conflicts of today and tomorrow? Mark Cancian — Senior Adviser at CSIS, former chief of the Force Structure and Investment Division at the Office of Management and Budget, and retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel — joins Cassian Persico Peña, Head of Development at The IN Network, for a conversation on war, defense spending, and what it takes to build real military capability. With more than three decades in the Marine Corps, including service in Vietnam, Desert Storm, and Iraq, Cancian brings both battlefield experience and deep policy expertise. In this conversation, he reflects on his early days in the Marines, including boot camp, which he jokingly described as “run like a prison, but where the inmates were in charge,” and how military training has changed since then. The discussion also looks at the defense budget from the inside: how the U.S. funds wars, builds capabilities, manages procurement, and prepares for future conflicts. We also examine recent and ongoing flashpoints, including Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, Ukraine, and broader questions about U.S. interventions, military readiness, and the limits of American power. His perspective connects the human side of military service with the hard realities of budgets, strategy, and national security decision-making.