Methodology for competitive strategy development

Fighting terrorists involves taking action against a highly adaptive and cunning adversary. In this competitive situation, however, those involved may have dissimilar objectives. Given this difference of purpose, selecting an optimal strategy to achieve one's objectives can be a complex task. Techniques from decision theory, and specifically value focused thinking (VFT), are proven approaches for developing creative strategies to yield better decisions. However, these methods are focused on one decision maker choosing an optimal decision without reference to the affect the decision has on other decision makers and without reference to the affect the decisions of others have on them. On-the-other-hand, techniques especially suited for analyzing competitive situations, such as game theory, assume strategies exist without guidance on how to develop the strategies. This paper presents a methodology to bridge this gap by providing a means to develop strategies in competitive situations where the objectives of those involved are not necessarily the same.