The Irrelevance of Popular Will Effects on National Will
Abstract
This paper will focus on answering the fundamental question that military leaders need to understand: what influence do public opinion and popular will have on our national will in the context of forming and executing national military strategy? I hope to banish the "specter" of Vietnam from matters of national military strategy, and offer a different opinion with respect to the public's role. To what extent can the American public influence or alter our national military strategy? The speed of information in the twenty-first century has affected how Americans voice their opinions, concerns, criticisms and support for the President and our elected leaders. Does this influence how our democratically elected officials and our military leaders interpret the collective national will of our nation? I will describe popular will as a subset of national will and present the actors that represent the "voice" of Americans. The effects of public opinion on national military strategy and policy are examined through political and military lenses. From this, conclusions will be drawn as to the effect of popular will on the decision to employ military power through the study of the 2006 Operation Iraqi Freedom "Surge", and the current Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) "Surge."
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 09, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA518323
Entities
People
- David P. Sheehan
Organizations
- United States Army War College