National Policy Implementation in an Asymmetric World
Abstract
The last nine years of persistent conflict in the Middle East and South Asia has demonstrated the need to look at the global environment through a different lens. What was a bi-polar world before the fall of the Berlin War, with a focus on conventional threats and operations, is now an asymmetrical world shaped by a confluence of crime, migration, and extremism, in which irregular warfare and nonstate actors greatly influence and threaten U.S. national security. By identifying the major trends that are working against a stable world order, based on a Westphalian construct and coupled with a further understanding of Clausewitz's trinity, the U.S. Government can dictate national policies and implementation plans that provide a whole-of-government approach to solving problems, vice a scatter shot of programs and policies from each U.S. Government department and agency. Through this analysis, the author will examine the asymmetric environment; the competition for influence over populations; the effects and influence of mass movements; the case for irregular forces (not just military), if irregular warfare is the "new normal"; and recommendations on redesigning the U.S. Government implementation arm of foreign policy.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 20, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA565252
Entities
People
- Clayton O. Sheffield
Organizations
- Stanford University