Turning Military Victory Into Political Success: Strategic Design As A Candle In The Dark
Abstract
In war, military victory is not synonymous with success. It is not enough to win the war; political leadership must provide strategic guidance that enables the national instruments of power to win the peace. Success can only be achieved when enduring political goals, the purpose of war, are achieved. At its core, the underlying impediment preventing military victory form achieving overall success is the inability for the national security system to develop a coherent and purposeful grand strategy, the outputs of which are policies that guide instruments of power to achieve a specific political goal. The current approach used by the national security system to develop and disseminate grand strategy and strategic guidance is a relic of the Cold War and is insufficient in todays interdependent and complex strategic environment. By adopting a Strategic Design framework, the national security enterprise gains a methodology to instill within its institutions and individuals the agility and critical reasoning needed to create imaginative grand strategy during peace and adaptive strategic guidance during war. In order to maintain credibility, influence, and security in an ever-increasingly complex international landscape, the United States national security system must adopt a Strategic Design processes to ensure that all instruments of national power are applied in a coherent effort towards achieving purposeful political ends. This paper introduces the Strategic Design framework and demonstrates how its iterative processes link military and non-military operational level triumphs with the political concept of success.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- AD1035376
Entities
People
- Steven V. Engberg
Organizations
- Air Command and Staff College