Discussion Topic: National Security Strategy

Background
During the Cold War, the U.S. National Security Strategy was based upon the doctrine of containment. This doctrine was first espoused by George F. Kennan, who served as the U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S.S.R. in the 1940’s. Among other things, Kennan argued that the Soviets were weak compared to the West and were vulnerable to internal instability. As set forth in NSC 68 issued by President Truman in 1950, the fundamental objective of the doctrine was to preserve global stability and U.S. national security by preventing the spread of communism. The doctrine of containment was woven into the fabric of all aspects of U.S. foreign policy.

Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. has struggled to develop a cohesive unitary doctrine upon which we can develop a national security strategy. Without such a strategy, the employment of the various tools available to achieve our broader objectives is often seen as reactive, ineffective, disjointed and ad hoc.

In September 2002, President Bush issued the current National Security Strategy of the United States of America. In many respects, this was the first attempt at articulating a new grand strategy for national security. Given that the strategy was issued one year after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon, it is not surprising that a primary focus of the strategy is the development of a framework to respond to the pervasive threat of terrorism to U.S. national security interests. The strategy seeks the extension of free market democracy throughout the globe to eradicate the root causes of terrorism, threatens preemptive military action against rogue states in order to deter the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction, and embraces military dominance.

The Princeton Project on National Security is a bipartisan initiative to develop a national security strategy for the United States. Led by George Schultz and Anthony Lake, the project brought together a wide range of leading thinkers. The introduction to the report, issued in September 2006, concludes as follows:

In the first decade of the 21st century, the United States must assess the world not through the eyes of World War II, or the Cold War, or even 9/11. Instead, Americans need to recognize that ours is a world with no single organizing principle like anti-fascism or anti-communism. We face many present dangers, several long-term challenges, and countless opportunities. Much is painfully familiar—ethnic conflict, religious strife, and belligerent nationalism—but much else is strangely new, including technological advances and the emergence of powerful non-state actors. . . .

In this world, what does the United States seek—for all Americans and for all human beings? How do we define our objectives, and what kind of strategy will we need to achieve those objectives in the 21st century? What principles will serve as our anchor in the coming decades, and what policies will guide us? The answers to these questions must ultimately be the subject of sustained national debate.