National Security Strategy

National security strategy describes the strategic context within which a complex array of threats arise and how they may develop in the future. In general, it seeks to describe a nation's distinctive role in the emerging world order, the risks to security and the response to it along with a treatment of what methodology or framework was used to state quantitative measures of risk.

National Security Strategy can theoritically serve several distinct purposes:

• By offering prioritized objectives and indicating which elements of national power ("ways and means") are to be used to meet them, it can provide guidance to departments and agencies to use in their internal processes for budgeting, planning, executing and in organizing, training and equiping personnel
• By clearly linking goals and the approaches designed to meet them, national security strategy can provide the executive branch a key tool for justifying requested resources to parliament
• By laying out a detailed strategic vision, it can help inform the public audiences both at home and abroad about government intent

Let us take a look at the content of this document in a few leading western democracies.



BRITAIN

Britains national security strategy document [2010] for example is divided into 4 parts and a single annexure as under:

1. Part 1: The Strategic Context
2. Part 2: Britain's Distinctive Role
3. Part 3: Risks to our Security
4. Part 4: Our Response
5. Annex A: National Security Risk Assessment: Methodology

The foreword identifies the many sources of threats, defines Britains place in the world due to its political, economic and cultural authority and the possibilities thrown open through globalization and open markets. It defines the need to stand up and protect what it conceives to be its national interests and project its influence abroad through active engagement in world affairs and to stand up for its values to the extent of requiring to project power and use its unique network of alliances and relationships to retain a strategic presence wherever it is needed. It acknowledges that the defence and security structure that it has inherited is woefully unsuited for the world today and asserts the need to learn from past mistakes and make the changes required, primarily in five key areas:

1. Changes to Government to enhance prioritization and decision making in terms of structure and processes
2. Changes to allow the National Security Council develop a cohesive national security strategy that will allow the Government to make choices about the risks facing the nation
3. Changes needed in diplomatic missions worldwide to enable spotting emerging risks and dealing with them before they escalate into crises
4. Changes needed to build a closer relationship between government, private sector and the public on issues concerning national security
5. Changes to ensure that the Armed Forces exemplify the best qualities of the country and the people and that they are equipped and maintained for its critical global role

UNITED STATES

The Obama Administration released its first National Security Strategy on May 27, 2010. The overview of the report states:

"Our national security strategy is, therefore, focused on renewing American leadership so taht we can more effectively advance our interests in the 21st century. We will do so by building upon the soources of our strength at home, while shaping an international order that can meet the challenges of our time. This strategy recognizes the fundamental connection between our national security, our national competitiveness, resilience and moral example. And it reaffirms America's committment to pursue our interests through an international system in which all nations have certain rights and responsibilities."

The US National Security Strategy document is comprised of five parts:

1. A preamble by the President
2. Overview of National Security Strategy
3. Strategic Approach
1. The Strategic Environment - The World as It Is
2. The Strategic Approach - The World We Seek
3. Strengthening National Capacity - A Whole Government Approach
4. Advancing our Interests
1. Security
2. Prosperity
3. Values
4. International Order
5. Conclusion

In its concluding paragraph, the document states:

"This responsibility cannot be their [the Armed Forces] alone. And there is no question that we, as a nation, can meet our responsibility as Americans once more. Even in a world of enormous challenges, no threat is bigger than the American people's capacity to meet it, and no opportunity exceeds our reach. We will continue to draw strength from those founding documents that established the creed that binds us together. We, too, can demonstrate the capability and courage to pursue a more perfect union - and in doing so - renew American leadership in the world."



CRITICISM

To provoke more thinking on the subject, and before readers assume that this is the end state, it is constructive to read some of the immediate criticisms that the US National Security Strategy has evoked:

1. While the current administration has done an effective job of articulating US national goals and objectives through its many public "strategy" documents to the American public, these documents are not the result of serious efforts at strategic planning. There is minimal effort at assessing the spectrum of threats and opportunities endemic to the new post-9/11 security environment and at identifying priorities for policy development, execution and resource allocation.
2. An articulated national vision that describes America's purpose in the post-9/11 world is useful - indeed, it is vital - but describing a destination is no substitute for developing a comprehensive roadmap for how the country will acheive its stated goals.
3. Various institutons in America's national security apparatus have attempted strategic planning, but these efforts have been stove-piped within individual agencies and quite varied in approach and quality.
4. There is still no systematic effort at strategic planning for American national security that is wholly inclusive, deliberative and integrative. Demands for strategic transformation necessitate "structural reforms aimed at constructing a rooftop that integrates the several key strategic pillars (diplomatic, economic, military, etc) of American power and influence."

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. IDSA: A National Security Strategy for India [Gupta 2011]
2. A Strong Britain in an Age of Uncertainty: The National Security Strategy [Crown 2010]
3. US National Security Strategy [2010]
4. CRS Report for Congress [2008]
5. Decoding the Obama National Security Strategy [New America Foundation 2010]