Strategic Vision and Presidential Authority in the Post-Cold War Era
Abstract
Vision is in vogue, particularly strategic vision, As America begins to contend with the problems of the post-Cold War world, there is increased recognition that some sort of guiding image of the future is necessary if the United States is to steer its way through the uncharted contours of this new era after 45 years of dealing with a familiar strategic landscape. At the highest level of American government, the national strategic level occupied by the President and his advisors, this image is strategic vision. Simply put, strategic vision is that picture of future change desired by governmental elites. It takes into account the probabilities of informed extrapolations of current foreign and domestic trend lines that will affect national security. Thus far, primarily due to the Gulf crisis, much of this type of attention from the current Administration has centered on the management of power. "We have a vision of a new partnership of nations that transcends the cold war," President Bush told the United Nations in October of 1990. And in his speech announcing the commencement of Desert Storm, the President was even more explicit: "We have before us the opportunity to forge for ourselves and for future generations a new world order, a world where the rule of law, not the law of the jungle, governs the conduct of nations."
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA527510
Entities
People
- David Jabonsky
Organizations
- United States Army War College