Courting Failure

The development of strategy and the provision of strategic guidance are essential to the long-term success of any organization. This is especially true for massive bureaucratic organizations like the United States Department of Defense (DOD), which need strategy to align the purpose, processes, and resources in a system that spans the globe, covers multiple years into the future, and guards the security interests of the nation. Unfortunately, DOD has engaged in almost two decades of strategic wandering since the conclusion of the Cold War. This research effort focuses on the causes for this astrategic approach by evaluating the absence of grand strategy at the national level, the resulting misalignment and distortion that has occurred in the defense policy, planning, programming, budgeting, and acquisition processes, and the role DOD has played in fostering this strategic shortfall. The critique utilizes the expected fiscal austerity and complex threat environment of the next decade argue that the current unconstrained strategic approach is unsustainable. DOD must desist in its passive approach to strategy and, instead, drive the strategic development process, execute a genuine strategic review, foster a new value culture within the department that focuses on national loyalty and moral courage instead of parochialism and status quo, and advocate for a new roles and missions review for the Services and Defense Agencies.This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.