Just adding tanks, planes and missiles does not a strategy make

Dick Virden, minnpost.com

Image from article, with caption: The Trump administration has committed to adding major funding for an already plus-sized military establishment, without indicating what the Pentagon will be expected to do or accomplish with the tens of billions in new money.

Excerpt:

At the senior service colleges where generals like those around President Donald Trump learned their craft, the emphasis is on developing and carrying out sound national security strategy. That means first defining clear goals, then drawing up plans and identifying resources needed to achieve them. 

The Trump administration, however, has it exactly backwards. It has, for example, committed to adding major funding for an already plus-sized military establishment, without indicating what the Pentagon will be expected to do or accomplish with the tens of billions in new money. 

At the same time, the president has shown little regard for other parts of what make up a smart, balanced and effective national security strategy. He has routinely dissed the State Department: failing to fill top jobs, freezing department officials out of key meetings where their expertise would have added value, and proposing crippling budget cuts. These steps undermine morale and diminish the contribution diplomacy and foreign aid can make to keeping the peace, assisting economic growth, promoting trade or assisting those hurt by natural disasters and wars.

The president’s own secretary of defense, Lt. Gen. James Mattis, knows the score, having declared that, if diplomacy and development are cut, “I’m going to need more ammo.” His point was that reliance on military power alone is a mug’s game; it will lead us to more armed conflict that might have been avoided and to the unnecessary loss of blood and treasure.

We need all the tools of statecraft

The United States clearly needs a strong military force – and we have it. We also require all the other tools of statecraft – diplomacy, development, intelligence, public diplomacy – to deal effectively with security threats such as those posed by ISIS, North Korea, Russia, Iran and others. ... 

Unpredictability isn't good

Unpredictability, or unreliability, is not a desirable quality for the world’s most powerful country. Allies want to be able to count on us in a crunch, and potential adversaries need to know we’ll go to the mat to protect our friends and our values.

We’re told to give President Trump some time, that his approach to national security, like his domestic policy, is still evolving. Sure, it’s still early. And also, as Adam said to Eve, we live in a time of transition. But it would be easier to be hopeful about an emerging national security strategy if we saw evidence that the president recognized that there’s more to it than bluster and the hammer. A successful strategy is one that sets clear, realizable goals and takes full account of all the tools of statecraft in pursuing them. Stay tuned.

Dick Virden is a retired Senior Foreign Service Officer. He studied and taught national security strategy at the National War College.