New Directions in US National Security Strategy, Defense Plans & Diplomacy: A Review of Official Strategic Documents
Center for Technology & National Security Policy (CTNSP)
New Directions in US National Security Strategy, Defense Plans & Diplomacy: A Review of Official Strategic Documents.
By Richard Kugler
Where are U.S. national security strategy, defense plans, and diplomacy headed in the coming years? One answer to this important question comes from seven official studies issued in 2010. These studies provide an impressive welter of goals and activities, and they announce major innovations in U.S. policies. But they are hard to absorb in a single setting, and their interrelationships can be hard to determine unless viewed together. To help readers better understand them, this book assembles them into a single exposition, thereby providing “one stop shopping.” It describes them individually, shows how they blend together, and evaluates their strengths and limitations.
Five of these studies were written by the U.S. Government, and two were written by teams of independent experts, working with official sponsorship. The studies are:
- National Security Strategy (NSS 2010), issued by the White House in May 2010
- Quadrennial Defense Review Report (QDR Report), issued by the Department of Defense (DOD) in February 2010
- The QDR in Perspective: Meeting America’s National Security Needs in the 21st Century (QDRP Report), mandated by Congress and DOD and issued by an independent study group in August 2010
- Nuclear Posture Review Report (NPR Report), issued by DOD in April 2010
- Ballistic Missile Defense Review Report (BMDR Report), issued by DOD in February 2010
- NATO 2020: Assured Security; Dynamic Engagement (ASDE Report), issued by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Group of Experts in May 2010 viii
- Leading Through Civilian Power: The First Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR Report), issued by the Department of State in December 2010.
While each of these studies deserves to be treated on its own merits, they are collectively important as they create a comprehensive blueprint for how future U.S. security efforts are to evolve. Together, they argue that if their policies are pursued in tandem, the United States can protect its homeland, advance its interests abroad, be prepared for future missions, help defend its allies, and dampen dangerous international trends while preserving peace and preventing war. NSS 2010 puts forth a new strategy that employs American economic renewal and a “whole of government” approach as engines for driving an assertive, refocused strategy of engagement abroad for handling today’s challenges and shaping a stable future international security order.
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