Alessandra Nisch
Putin’s Wars: Testing Boyd’s Strategy of ...

President Putin made three foundational assumptions in launching his war against Ukraine that should have been correct but were not. First, Putin assumed the invasion of Ukraine would be a quick and easy fight. Second, he assumed the world would denounce the invasion but tacitly allow it. Third, Putin assumed the war would deter NATO expansion.

Putin’s Wars: Testing Boyd’s Strategy of Applied Friction

National Security Council

U.S. Strategic Consistency and Coherence: The Planner’s Role in Continuity

U.S. Strategic Consistency and Coherence: The Planner’s Role in Continuity

Strategy formulation within the United States is a difficult and messy process that can differ substantially from administration to administration. The president’s flexibility within the National Security Council system enables frequent changes to its process and influence as the nation’s primary strategy-making device. This variance, in turn, makes it difficult to ensure long-term, inter-administration strategic consistency. Furthermore, even within individual administrations, strategy is not the result of a monolithic policy machine, but of multiple sub-optimized positions informed by a variety of security perspectives and moderated by organizational equities.

The United States National Security Council Needs an Information Warfare Directorate

The United States National Security Council Needs an Information Warfare Directorate

President Eisenhower believed the National Security Council was the right coordinating body for senior United States policy and military officials to discuss and generate the most practical solutions to America’s most pressing security issues—independent of the department or agency they represent. Given today’s complex operating environment, what is required is an inclusive information warfare directorate, led by the National Security Council that identifies the appropriate means to protect the United States public and allies in an increasingly chaotic and dangerous era.

#Reviewing The Life and Work of General Andrew J. Goodpaster: Best Practices in National Security Affairs

#Reviewing The Life and Work of General Andrew J. Goodpaster: Best Practices in National Security Affairs

National security officials who want to know more about the formation of the American national security state or who are searching for a role model in conducting public service may be interested in this book. In his effort to pass on Goodpaster’s insights regarding national security affairs to subsequent generations of officials, Nelson strikes the tone of a how-to guide: how to become Goodpaster, or at least emulate this thoughtfulness and charisma.

Micromanaging the Micromanagers? Congressionally-driven National Security Council Reform

Micromanaging the Micromanagers? Congressionally-driven National Security Council Reform

As Congress marches toward major defense reforms in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, one area receiving increasing attention is the National Security Council (NSC). The narrative surrounding President Obama’s NSC has been shaped by biting criticisms of micromanagement in the operations of the Departments of Defense and State and indecision on major national security issues. As some have noted, the NSC has long been the preferred punching bag for foreign policy spectators over the last half century. However, the chorus of criticism has seemed to peak more recently, manifesting in proposed legislation.