Schriever Wargame 2010 - Air Force Space Command

Senior Leader Perspective
The Complexities of America’s National Security:
Enabling A New Generation of Leadership
Hon. George W. Foresman
Former Under Secretary
US Department of Homeland Security
America’s strategic national security environment continues
to evolve in both its breadth and complexity. This
evolution demands that current and future generations of civilian
and military leaders expand their understanding of the range of
global risks facing the US and the interdependencies that exist
between what can harm our nation and the steps we must be capable
of taking to defend our interests. Developing the integrated
capabilities that will be required to ensure America’s security today
and in the future requires 21 st century leadership.
The National Security Strategy for the US, released on 27
May 2010, underscores the overarching obligation for America,
and to be enabled through current and future generations of civilian
and military leaders.
At the dawn of the 21 st century, the United States of America
faces a broad and complex array of challenges to our national
security. Just as America helped to determine the course of
the 20 th century, we must now build the sources of American
strength and influence, and shape an international order capable
of overcoming the challenges of the 21 st century.…
Our national security strategy is, therefore, focused on renewing
American leadership so that we can more effectively advance
our interests in the 21 st century.
While the National Security Strategy defines America’s goals,
we must also provide the tools to transform the words into accomplishments.
Key to this transformation is delivering the
right leadership at home and abroad. Clearly national leadership
depends on ideas and vision. Most importantly it requires individuals
who transform words into action.
Thus a dilemma facing current civilian and military leaders—
adapting to a generation of challenges far different from those
they faced during their own formative years of education, service
and growth. In many respects, in the context of the individual,
the institutions they represent and the processes that enable their
efforts, America is in the midst of a generational transition of its
national security apparatus and its underpinning strategies. Generational
transition does not simply mean “out with the old and
in with the new.” Rather it implies preserving the foundational
approaches that have served the US well during countless domestic
and international crises in the 20 th century, but must now
be adapted to current requirements and conditions.
Appreciating the Global Interdependencies
During the height of the Cold War there was no mistaking
the most likely adversary and the highest probability scenarios
that could potentially undermine America’s national security and
even conceivably threaten our national survival. A generation
of civilian and military leaders grappled to both understand the
nature of the threats confronting the US and to develop strategies
to deter potential conflicts and if necessary, to prevail.
In our 20 th century environment civilian and military leaders
benefited from a degree of certainty and stability. America was
more able to readily identify potential adversaries and possessed
an appreciation of their “ultimate red lines,” and we also had
confidence that they knew ours. In number and capabilities, potential
adversaries were fewer and less menacing. The speed by
which information flow and most crises erupted was, by comparison
to today, much slower. Military and economic actions
taken by the US or others in one part of the world could be exquisitely
targeted and isolated. Together these did not eliminate
the threats confronting America. But they did provide America’s
leaders with a more stable environment in terms of time, simplicity,
and mutual understanding to formulate strategies and make
decisions about the actions they needed to undertake.
Today many of external global influencers have changed—
economically, geopolitically, and societally. These, along with
others, must be contemplated in new ways by leaders in the 21 st
century. Individually and collectively these factors impact the
national security decisions our leaders make and the actions they
choose to pursue. The US and our civilian and military leaders
are neither isolated from the remainder of the world, nor can we
afford to be. Present and future leadership decisions and strategic
direction must adjust for these dynamic changes.
The US is inextricably linked to the trillions of dollars of global
financial transactions occurring daily. More than ever before,
transactions at home and abroad directly and immediately affect
our overall national wealth, debt, and economic stability. This
means that economic considerations have greater influence than
in the past. Super-powers have been replaced by a myriad of
competing nations possessing heightened levels of global political,
military, and economic influence. This challenges our interests
abroad—both in the context of our existing partnerships and
our ability to create new alliances to help resolve future conflicts.
The internet and resulting capacity to connect previously isolated
societies have resulted in new dimensions of engagement—with
positive and negative consequences. Instant communications
and hundreds of billions of daily e-mail messages not only connect
the global populations, promoting enlightenment, but can
also spread misinformation and foster conflict. More than ever
before information technology tools have evolved to be capable,
with lightening speed, of also being used as weapons of mass
disruption and destruction.
A Useful Paradigm for Today’s Leaders?
America’s current national security environment is demand-
5 High Frontier