Follow the Leader: A Proposal to Make Whole of Government Global Engagement Work
Abstract
The thesis proposes ways to enable the U.S. to bring to bear all elements of national power in its global engagement strategy, using those power sources properly and effectively to cope with the 21st century's multi-polar and non-polar world of networked, complex, "wicked" problems. The current national security system is prone to fail in global engagement due to resource allocations, DoD preeminence, bureaucratic nature, culture, prerogatives, power structures and human nature. The current system militates against and actively forestalls change. The thesis proposes developing a 21st century mindset and organizational behaviors, using leadership and management, vice major structural change, as the keys to improving culture, organizational behaviors, controls and processes to bring results. The President needs to bring true leadership to the fore through a top-level national security summit to move the establishment to realign resources, establish core missions across the NSE through the budget process, implement controls to ensure accountability, and develop national security professionals through training and cross-assignment. Taking a less formalistic but feasible path, leaders and managers, using 21st century mindsets and practices, can and will achieve the real change the country needs and can realize now.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 12, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA530229
Entities
People
- Richard P. Ammons
Organizations
- National Defense University