Analysis / Strategy

Formulating National Security Strategy

— Mark Cancian, Melissa Dalton, John Schaus, Colin McElhinny, Andrew Metrick, Hijab Shah, Richard McPeak
Photo Credit: Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brigitte N. Brantley

Strategies are shaped by the processes that produce them. If designed well, a strategy formulation process enables decisionmakers to evaluate the political, security, and budgetary environments, identify choices for an organization, weigh risks, opportunities, and tradeoffs, and determine the best way forward. A strategy formulation process determines which issues will be raised for decision, how issues are elevated to senior levels, what options are presented, who participates in the decisionmaking, and how the results are communicated both internally and externally.

Formulating National Security Strategy: Past Experiences and Future Choices is released as the Trump Administration is developing a new defense and national security strategy. However, the strategy formulation process and the resulting documents have been heavily criticized in the past. This report, prepared for DOD and mandated by the Congress, identifies key choices for policymakers in constructing a strategy formulation process and makes recommendations on best practices based on analysis of previous processes.

 

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Photo Credit: Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brigitte N. Brantley

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Mark Cancian, Melissa Dalton, John Schaus, Colin McElhinny, Andrew Metrick, Hijab Shah and Richard McPeak, "Formulating National Security Strategy," Center for Strategic and International Studies, October 6, 2017, last modified October 6, 2017, https://defense360.csis.org/formulating-national-security-strategy/.

Mark Cancian is a senior adviser with the CSIS International Security Program. He joined CSIS in April 2015 from the Office of Management and Budget, where he spent more than seven years as chief of the Force Structure and Investment Division. Previously, he worked on force structure and acquisition issues in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and spent over three decades in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Melissa Dalton is a senior fellow and deputy director of the CSIS International Security Program (ISP) and director of the Cooperative Defense Project (CDP). Her CDP research focuses on reinforcing the principled foundations of U.S. defense policy and military operations. She also frequently conducts research and writes on security cooperation with allies and partners and U.S. defense policy in the Middle East. Prior to CSIS, she served in a number of positions at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2007 to 2014. She most recently was a senior adviser for force planning, where she contributed to the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review and DoD’s planning guidance.

John Schaus is a senior fellow in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where he focuses on defense industry and Asia security challenges. His research areas include Asia-Pacific security issues and U.S. defense policy and industry, and he presents CSIS’s flagship presentation on future trends, “Seven Revolutions: Scanning the Horizon Out to the Year 2035 and Beyond.” Prior to rejoining CSIS in July 2014, he worked in the Office of Asian and Pacific Security Affairs (APSA) within the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Colin McElhinny

Colin McElhinny is a program manager and research associate in the International Security Program at CSIS, where he works on a broad range of issues including U.S. defense strategy, defense reform, Congress and national security, and public opinion on foreign policy.

Andrew Metrick was an associate fellow with the International Security Program at CSIS.

Hijab Shah is a research associate with the International Security Program at CSIS. She graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service with a master’s degree in security studies in 2016 and a bachelor’s degree in culture and politics in 2011. She was a postgraduate exchange student at the Center for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St. Andrews.

Richard McPeak is a retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army.

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