The National Security Council and Synchronization for Multi-Domain Operations - Terror War, Goldwater-Nichols Act, Principal-Agent Theory, Smartpower,

By U.S. Military, U.S. Department of Defense, Jonathan Batt

The National Security Council (NSC) is the locus of strategic policy planning for the United States, as it serves as the statutory strategic coordinating cell for the President. With the recent shift toward great power competition, consideration must be given to how the military and interagency integrate into policy at the strategic and operational levels of war. This study seeks to examine how the United States conducts strategic planning to understand the implications for the U.S. effort in preparing for great power conflict and large scale combat operations.Recommendations from this study include making structural improvements in the NSC system that establish the importance of strategic planning, policy evaluation, and talent management. To accomplish this, both legislative and executive measures should be implemented to support progressive change. The study concludes by offering that synchronizing strategy across the interagency is a complex problem with no perfect solution. Instead, incremental changes should be made to improve the system with continued study focused on refining the process given a changing environment.This compilation also includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.1. Introduction * 2. History of the NSC * Creation and Early Development * The Contemporary NSC * National Security Planning During the Global War on Terror * The Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 * Contemporary Doctrine * Section Summary * 3. Relevant Theory * Principal-Agent Theory and Agency Loss * Modern Strategic Thought: Problem Framing, Bias, and Smartpower * Forecasting * 4. Improving Interagency Effectiveness * The Importance of Strategic Planning and Design * Talent Management: Good People Still Matter * Fill the Operational Void * 5. Conclusion and Recommendations * The Legislative Approach: A New Goldwater-Nichols * Requisite Executive Leadership * Future Research: The Interagency as a Wicked ProblemThe purpose of this study is to survey how the United States conducts strategic planning to understand the implications for the military's effort in preparing for great power conflict. The 2018 U.S. National Defense Strategy (NDS) states that "a long-term strategic competition requires the seamless integration of multiple elements of national power-diplomacy, information, economics, finance, intelligence, law enforcement, and military."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1702729621
• ISBN13: 9781702729628
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 86 Pages
• Weight: 0.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 8.5" x 11.0"