Book Description

The United States Army War College (USAWC), in support of the Army Staff and in cooperation with national security faculty and researchers at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Security Studies Program, and Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, conducted a series of workshops from 7-10 April 2008 entitled Strategic Vision Workshop: National Grand Strategy. The Strategic Vision Workshop was organized to assist the Department of the Army in the understanding of Grand Strategy and future policy options that will prepare the Army to meet challenges in a world of persistent conflict. The premise behind the workshop is the idea that Strategy is all about choices a nation makes given a particular strategic environment. Trends shaping America's strategic environment point toward an era that some have labeled persistent conflict. The future is expected to be one of protracted confrontation among state, non-state, and individual actors that will use violence to achieve political, religious, and other ideological ends. Furthermore, these confrontations will be exacerbated by major shifts in wealth brought on by globalization, significant disruptions in the status quo resulting from major technology advancement, growing radicalism, massive population growth, competition for resources, climate change/natural disasters, and the threat of ungoverned spaces. This environment will force the United States to make difficult strategic choices. The workshop explored the various choices available to the U.S. through the use of the elements of national power as depicted in the D-I-M-E model (Diplomatic, Informational, Military, and Economic). What follows is a brief exposition of the choices discussed during the workshop.