The Oxford Handbook of U.S. National Security


Book Description

The Oxford Handbook of U.S. National Security frames the context, institutions, and processes the U.S. government uses to advance national interests through foreign policy, government institutions, and grand strategy. Contributors examine contemporary national security challenges and the processes and tools used to improve national security.




Language and National Security in the 21st Century


Book Description

This study evaluates the language-related programs mandated in the Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961, a federal policy designed to promote national security through the promotion of advanced language training and access of the U.S. government to such expertise. This study has two principal components: a retrospective assessment of the effectiveness of Title VI/Fulbright-Hays (Title VI/F-H) in meeting its statutory goals with regard to foreign language; and a look to the future with recommendations based on current law, past performance, and an empirically-based assessment of current needs for language in the United States. It is concluded that the United States, through Title VI/F-H has sustained the nation's capacity in less commonly taught languages (LCTLs), many of which have or have had strategic importance. Title VI/F-H has also played a key role in supporting basic research in linguistics and second language acquisition, been crucial to the training of foreign language experts, and meeting the needs of business and government for such services. It is also concluded that Title VI/F-H faces unprecedented new challenges in the years ahead as a result of the political, social, economic, and technological developments of the past 15. Eleven specific recommendations are made for the strengthening of the language component of Title VI/F-H, focusing on encouraging the study of foreign languages, funding more basic research, and involving resident native speakers of strategically important languages in these efforts. The book is divided into 5 chapters and includes references, several appendices, and an index. (KFT)




Strategy and the National Security Professional


Book Description

This book focuses on strategic theory, strategic thinking and strategy formulation. It provides theory and framework for considering and formulating all state strategy. It is an examination of theory, exploring those aspects of strategy that appear to have a universal application. With the proper environmental assessment and appraisal, it argues key strategic factors can be identified and strategy appropriately formulated in rational expression of ends, ways, and means. This book also demonstrates how to develop and clearly articulate the objectives, concepts, and resources in strategy, as well as how to avoid common errors and pitfalls in strategy formulation. It offers practical tests for determining the validity of a particular strategy and ways in which to articulate risk.




US Grand Strategy in the 21st Century


Book Description

This book challenges the dominant strategic culture and makes the case for restraint in US grand strategy in the 21st century. Grand strategy, meaning a state’s theory about how it can achieve national security for itself, is elusive. That is particularly true in the United States, where the division of federal power and the lack of direct security threats limit consensus about how to manage danger. This book seeks to spur more vigorous debate on US grand strategy. To do so, the first half of the volume assembles the most recent academic critiques of primacy, the dominant strategic perspective in the United States today. The contributors challenge the notion that US national security requires a massive military, huge defense spending, and frequent military intervention around the world. The second half of the volume makes the positive case for a more restrained foreign policy by excavating the historical roots of restraint in the United States and illustrating how restraint might work in practice in the Middle East and elsewhere. The volume concludes with assessments of the political viability of foreign policy restraint in the United States today. This book will be of much interest to students of US foreign policy, grand strategy, national security, and International Relations in general.




Economic Security: Neglected Dimension of National Security ?


Book Description

On August 24-25, 2010, the National Defense University held a conference titled “Economic Security: Neglected Dimension of National Security?” to explore the economic element of national power. This special collection of selected papers from the conference represents the view of several keynote speakers and participants in six panel discussions. It explores the complexity surrounding this subject and examines the major elements that, interacting as a system, define the economic component of national security.










Intelligence and Law Enforcement in the 21st Century


Book Description

"This book provides a detailed discussion on the ways in which education and science can be applied to the improvement of security focusing on the necessary blend of education, science, and intelligence activities through the relevant application of educational concepts and scientific approaches"--




Security Studies for the 21st Century


Book Description

Are world politics more or less stable, violence prone, and anxiety producing today than in previous eras? How are states and nonstate actors coping with these issues? What new material do the public and especially students of security studies need to understand the security environment of the next century? The editors of this ambitious successor volume to Security Studies for the 1990s approach the subject from national, international, regional, transstate, and comparative perspectives. Each chapter provides an in-depth review of a major security aspect of the subject, providing key concepts, methods, suggested course structure, a bibliography, and a model syllabus. This book is designed primarily for courses at the graduate level, but it can also be adapted for undergraduates.




U.S. Education Reform and National Security


Book Description

The United States' failure to educate its students leaves them unprepared to compete and threatens the country's ability to thrive in a global economy and maintain its leadership role. This report notes that while the United States invests more in K-12 public education than many other developed countries, its students are ill prepared to compete with their global peers. According to the results of the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international assessment that measures the performance of 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics, and science every three years, U.S. students rank fourteenth in reading, twenty-fifth in math, and seventeenth in science compared to students in other industrialized countries. The lack of preparedness poses threats on five national security fronts: economic growth and competitiveness, physical safety, intellectual property, U.S. global awareness, and U.S. unity and cohesion, says the report. Too many young people are not employable in an increasingly high-skilled and global economy, and too many are not qualified to join the military because they are physically unfit, have criminal records, or have an inadequate level of education. The report proposes three overarching policy recommendations: implement educational expectations and assessments in subjects vital to protecting national security; make structural changes to provide students with good choices; and, launch a "national security readiness audit" to hold schools and policymakers accountable for results and to raise public awareness.