Strategy and Policy

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STRATEGY AND

POLICY8802A


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Course Overview(Composition and Organization)

Part I

L1: Grand Strategy: Theory and

Practice

L2: National Security Decision Making

L3: Economics and Policy L4: Intelligence and Policy

L5: Total Force

L6: National Strategic Planning

Part II

L7: WWII: Pre-war Strategy andPlanning

L8: WWII: Why the Allies Won

L9: National Security Strategy

during the Cold War (with VietnamCase Study)

L10: The UN and NATO in Post-Cold War Era

L11: Post-Cold War Contemp.Issues: China

L12 Post-Cold War Contemp.Issues: Middle East


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Course Overview(Composition and Organization)

Multimedia DOCNET

Digitized lectures

Video interviews

Radio-style interview (audio CD included) Exam linkage to educational objectives (EOs)

Cover EOs

Cover material on the exam


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STRATEGY ANDPOLICY

(8802A)Lesson 1Grand Strategy: Theory and Practice


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Agenda

Strategic Constants and Norms

International Relations Theory

Instruments/Elements of National Power

The Limits of Military Power

Strategy as a Concept and a Process

National Interests

The National Security Strategy (NSS) 2002


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Requirements

1. Strategic Environment

2. Means

3. Elements of national power


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Requirement 1

The environment

Objective 1. Describe the various

characteristics that make up the strategic

environment.

Objective 2. Explain International Relations

(IR) theory and relate it to our understanding

of important security issues that shapestrategy.


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Physical Environment

National Character

Relationship between war and state

Balance of power mechanism


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Strategic Constants and Norms(Strategic Characteristics)

Physical Environment:

Traditional elements: land forms, terrain, ocean and seas, climate

Spatial elements: natural resources, lines of communication

Political, economic, and social makeup of a nation results in part

from physical environment

Location of international borders (land-locked vs. island nation)


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National Character:

Character derived from: location, language, culture, religion,

societal politics, historical circumstances

Always evolving

Psychological profile of each nation or political group involvedin the conflict:

Enemies

Allies

Potential enemies and allies

Ones own nation


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The Relationship between War and the State:

A state will almost always become involved

States are normally replaced by other states or groups

Generally, a state is remarkably tough and enduring

Context of the state system(s) No political entity is permanent


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The Balance of Power Mechanism:

status quo in the distribution of power

no one dominant entity or group of entities

more than one political power center

Breaks down if: One or more of the participants rebel

A power vacuum occurs


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Main schools

Realism

Idealism/liberalism

Characteristics

Problem

Actors

Characteristics


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Realism: Central problem: war and the use of force

Central actors: states interacting with other states (

Anarchic system of states

Hobbs, Just as stormy weather does not mean perpetual rain, so astate of war does not mean constant war.

Thucydides, The strong do what they have the power to do and the

weak accept what they have to accept (Penguin translation).

View: International politics is ajungle dominated by the

exercise of power and power politics


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Idealism/Liberalism: Views a global society that functions alongside the states and

sets part of the context for states

Trade crosses borders, people have global contacts, and

international institutions (UN, NATO, etc.) create a context in

which the realist view of pure anarchy is insufficient

International system: community

State of war focuses only on extreme situations and misses the

growth of economic interdependence and the evolution of a

transnational global society Views international politics as a garden


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Requirement 2

Objective 3. Describe how national-

level strategy and policy incorporates the

instruments of national power as ameans of exercising power and

influence.


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Instruments/Elements of National Power

Diplomatic/political

Informational

Military

Economic


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Instruments/Elements of National

Power

Diplomatic/Political: The use of a countrys

international diplomatic skills and political position to

achieve national interests

Informational: The use of a countrys information

systems to achieve national interests

Military: The extent a countrys armed forces can be

used to achieve national interests.

Economic: The application of a countrys material

resources to achieve national interests


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Political and psychological limits

Legitimacy and the credible capacity to coerce

Physical limits


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Culminating points

Strategic and operational culminating points:

Culminating points short of victory:


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Requirement 3

Objective 4. Determine how the full

dimension of strategy as a concept and

as a process relates to the policy,strategy, and military operations

relationship.


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The Strategy Process:

1. Determining national security objectives

2. Formulating grand strategy

3. Developing military strategy

4. Designing operational strategy

5. Formulating battlefield strategy (tactics)


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Strategy

the bridge between policy and operations

Effective strategy must integrate political and military criteria rather

than separate them

Civilian and military leaders may tend to polarize toward oppositesides of the bridge


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Key PointsL1: Grand Strategy: Theory and Practice (continued)

POLICY

Democracy

OPERATIONSStrategy

Grand


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Complicating factors

steps not neat or compartmentalized but blend and flow from

national security objectives to tactics

reverse flow or feedback system within the process

Numerous external factors have influence where and by whom are decisions decisions made


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Characteristics of political/policy strategicobjectives:

First step in making strategy is deciding

which political objectives a strategy will aimto achieve

These objectives should establish:

Definitions for survival and victory for all

participants in the conflict Whether the nation is pursuing a limited or

unlimited political objective


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Characteristics of military strategic objectives:

Military objectives flow from political/policy objectives

Use of military power should not produce unintended or

undesirable political results Must consider centers of gravity and critical vulnerabilities


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National Interests

Vital national interests:

An interest on which the nation isunwilling to compromise

An interest over which a nation would goto war

Sometimes interests are categorized

Survival

Vital

Major

Peripheral


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Requirement 4

Objective 5. Discuss how the current U.

S. National Security Strategy integrates

the various elements of national power toachieve its goals and objectives.


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National Security Strategy(September 2002)

Goals

Champion aspirations for human dignity

Strengthen alliances to defeat global terrorism and

work to prevent attacks against us and our friends Work with others to defuse regional conflicts

Prevent our enemies from threatening us, our allies,

and our friends with weapons of mass destruction


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National Security Strategy(September 2002)

Goals Ignite a new era of global economic growth through

free markets and free trade

Expand the circle of development by opening societies

and building the infrastructure of democracy Develop agendas for cooperative action with other

main centers of global power

Transform Americas national security institutions to

meet the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century


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Summary

Agenda



Instruments/Elements of National Power The Limits of Military Power


National Interests

The National Security Strategy (NSS) 2002


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Points to remember

The Notions of the IR Theories

Characteristics of the strategic environment

Aspects of the M instrument

Themes of the policy and strategy relationship andprocess

Political/policy and Military Objectives

NSS 2002 Objectives and Elements

Documents

Strategy and Policy