Interagency Efficacy at the Operational Level
Abstract
The interagency process is a series of hierarchical committees that set the conditions for the President to achieve national objectives by synchronizing the instruments of national power. After the fall of the Soviet Union, increased integration and coordination within the interagency process was required to contend with increasingly complex global contingencies. This caused a colossal struggle between the President and Congress that redefined the role of the President in dealing with these contingencies. To address interagency coordination in this complex environment, President Clinton established PDD 56, "The Clinton Administration's Policy on Managing Complex Contingency Operations." However, due to continued congressional pressure, organizational friction at the department level, and insular Presidential level decision making, the changes in PDD 56 were never fully implemented. What is needed is strong, supra-departmental control of the interagency process at the operational level. Such control will enable effective oversight of interagency planning and reduce departmental friction to provide the President with an integrated approach to problem solving in the post-Cold War environment. This research examines interagency interaction from the end of the Cold War through Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 26, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA435932
Entities
People
- Thomas M. Lafleur
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College