Conclusion: Strategizing, Decisionmaking, and Policy Implementation

As long as the United States is a world power with global interests and responsibilities, the development of a coherent national security and foreign policy strategy will be essential to effective international engagement. Otherwise, our dealings with the world will be reactive, short term, and tactical. Even presidential statements of strategic intent will be declaratory, without the credibility of operational significance. With simultaneous, serious challenges facing the nation across the globe, new arenas for competition and cooperation, and a widening scope of actors that can help or harm the United States, national security decisionmaking structures need to change. The next