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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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Strategic Constants and Norms
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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Strategic Constants and Norms(Strategic Characteristics)
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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Strategic Constants and Norms(Strategic Characteristics)
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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Strategic Constants and Norms(Strategic Characteristics)
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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International Relations Theory
Main schools
Realism
Idealism/liberalism
Characteristics
Problem
Actors
Characteristics
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International Relations Theory
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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International Relations Theory
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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The Limits of Military Power
Political and psychological limits
Legitimacy and the credible capacity to coerce
Physical limits
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The Limits of Military Power
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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Strategy as a Concept and a Process
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 as a Concept and a Process
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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Strategy as a Concept and a Process
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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Strategy as a Concept and a Process
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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Strategy as a Concept and a Process
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
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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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