The US Strategy, Strategic Narrative & Cognitive Domain: Pathway to Our Future
The United States of America remains the shining light on the hill for millions of people around the world. Our ideals and values remain a primary reason - but we need to reinvigorate the message and drive proactive influence in the Cognitive Domain. We can do that by highlighting those ideals and values around the world including: Freedom of Worship, Freedom of speech, Freedom of Opportunity, and Freedom from Tyranny.
After the Cold War, we lost our focus, and unfortunately in our typical narrow minded, quick satisfaction way, we dismantled much of our capabilities that advanced our narrative of peace, freedom and prosperity, focus on human rights, and focus on battling tyranny. 9-11 further changed our focus, and with that we got lost in the perpetual tactical moment and forgot about the strategic message, the strategic narrative, of why our country was acting and what our overall strategy and intent was in moving into Iraq and Afghanistan.
We lost our focus - but we must regain our focus, and shift it from solely kinetic and tactical nature that places us in a perpetually reactive mode - to a strategic and encompassing narrative and focus - that drives outcomes we desire in support of our ideals, by region, by country, internal and external to America. This will require an overhaul of parts of DoD, the IC, others, Congressional oversight, and our focus, not necessarily the methods, for budgeting.
Our primary message and momentum, a bit of our shining light faded, immediately after the Cold War ended, because we forgot about the strategic narrative - the message we where sending to the rest of the world. We assumed it was learned and that we could now reap the peace dividend of nearly a hundred year effort against communism and tyranny. Tyranny as we've learned doesn't rest.
We are in a war of ideals, ideology - a Cognitive War - that began centuries ago and will last a millennia and likely longer into the future. Hence our approach to national security, domestic efforts and world engagement needs a significant overhaul. We must move from a reactive and solely politically divisive posture to one that stretches the focus out twenty, fifty and one-hundred plus years in defining what kind of world do we wish to leave behind, build towards and enable?
I call on the President, the NSC, the Congress to begin working in a bipartisan manner on a truly national strategic plan - and investment roadmap that forgoes the near-term but asks us all to sacrifice and help build the future we wish. One that discusses the far, and drives the investments based on long-term outcomes into near-term actions. A plan that drives a whole of nation and whole of government approach - as we must leverage the whole to achieve our objectives. The federal government, private sector and academia are part of an inextricable fabric of America and our values/ideals, that we can either mend, stitch and increase its resilience and strength - or cut, tear and divide and destroy the very fabric that has made America the shining light on the hill.
Remember, it is WE not THEY who define our future. We can either remain perpetually reactive and allow others to define our future, dwindle our resources by driving us to react to brush fires, or we can seize a greater moment - and realize that we must once again lead. Regardless, we must lead, follow or get the hell out of the way. Which do you prefer?
We must develop a plan that speaks to near, mid and far term objectives for national security and domestic needs - and in doing so move away from the near term partisan pandering to a united America that realizes we must all make sacrifices, we must all do for our country, to enable a world of the future that reflects our ideas and values, allows proactive influence and outcomes that impede, disable or avert kinetic and conflicts.
To achieve such unity, strategic direction and focus must begin to invest heavily in the Cognitive Domain - as we've learned from Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan - the world moves not by kinetics, but moves by will.
The incoming nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs stated recently (see link) that we are in a hundred years of competition with China. Agree, to an extent, but it is more a competition across millennia that is a balance of the equilibrium between freedom or tyranny - and it goes beyond China, to our competition around the world. It is the perpetual battle between good and evil, control or freedom.
http://www.businessinsider.com/china-main-us-challenger-over-next-century-says-military-chief-2019-7
With a truly strategic focus - we can begin to address the national budget crises, size and effectiveness of government, and re-balance investments not based on special interests, congressional districts or lobbyist efforts - but based on the American people's support and buy in for a truly strategic plan - that goes far beyond a moon shot or Manhattan project - in that we begin to focus and address our and the challenges of the world - as a nation, as a united people, and begin to invest and address issues in the context of the strategic and the world's humanity, vice the narrow self interests and reactive nature of our politics and military -- we've become a captive to our tactical nature, we need to move back to become the true world leader of the strategic.
A pipe-dream? Perhaps to some. But many great leaders (e.g., Kennedy, King, Reagan) know, you must start with a dream and that those dreams become reality - not by sitting by, but by doing.
Discussion can continue, but shall we begin?
After the Cold War, we lost our focus, and unfortunately in our typical narrow minded, quick satisfaction way, we dismantled much of our capabilities that advanced our narrative of peace, freedom and prosperity, focus on human rights, and focus on battling tyranny. 9-11 further changed our focus, and with that we got lost in the perpetual tactical moment and forgot about the strategic message, the strategic narrative, of why our country was acting and what our overall strategy and intent was in moving into Iraq and Afghanistan.
We lost our focus - but we must regain our focus, and shift it from solely kinetic and tactical nature that places us in a perpetually reactive mode - to a strategic and encompassing narrative and focus - that drives outcomes we desire in support of our ideals, by region, by country, internal and external to America. This will require an overhaul of parts of DoD, the IC, others, Congressional oversight, and our focus, not necessarily the methods, for budgeting.
Our primary message and momentum, a bit of our shining light faded, immediately after the Cold War ended, because we forgot about the strategic narrative - the message we where sending to the rest of the world. We assumed it was learned and that we could now reap the peace dividend of nearly a hundred year effort against communism and tyranny. Tyranny as we've learned doesn't rest.
We are in a war of ideals, ideology - a Cognitive War - that began centuries ago and will last a millennia and likely longer into the future. Hence our approach to national security, domestic efforts and world engagement needs a significant overhaul. We must move from a reactive and solely politically divisive posture to one that stretches the focus out twenty, fifty and one-hundred plus years in defining what kind of world do we wish to leave behind, build towards and enable?
I call on the President, the NSC, the Congress to begin working in a bipartisan manner on a truly national strategic plan - and investment roadmap that forgoes the near-term but asks us all to sacrifice and help build the future we wish. One that discusses the far, and drives the investments based on long-term outcomes into near-term actions. A plan that drives a whole of nation and whole of government approach - as we must leverage the whole to achieve our objectives. The federal government, private sector and academia are part of an inextricable fabric of America and our values/ideals, that we can either mend, stitch and increase its resilience and strength - or cut, tear and divide and destroy the very fabric that has made America the shining light on the hill.
Remember, it is WE not THEY who define our future. We can either remain perpetually reactive and allow others to define our future, dwindle our resources by driving us to react to brush fires, or we can seize a greater moment - and realize that we must once again lead. Regardless, we must lead, follow or get the hell out of the way. Which do you prefer?
We must develop a plan that speaks to near, mid and far term objectives for national security and domestic needs - and in doing so move away from the near term partisan pandering to a united America that realizes we must all make sacrifices, we must all do for our country, to enable a world of the future that reflects our ideas and values, allows proactive influence and outcomes that impede, disable or avert kinetic and conflicts.
To achieve such unity, strategic direction and focus must begin to invest heavily in the Cognitive Domain - as we've learned from Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan - the world moves not by kinetics, but moves by will.
The incoming nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs stated recently (see link) that we are in a hundred years of competition with China. Agree, to an extent, but it is more a competition across millennia that is a balance of the equilibrium between freedom or tyranny - and it goes beyond China, to our competition around the world. It is the perpetual battle between good and evil, control or freedom.
http://www.businessinsider.com/china-main-us-challenger-over-next-century-says-military-chief-2019-7
With a truly strategic focus - we can begin to address the national budget crises, size and effectiveness of government, and re-balance investments not based on special interests, congressional districts or lobbyist efforts - but based on the American people's support and buy in for a truly strategic plan - that goes far beyond a moon shot or Manhattan project - in that we begin to focus and address our and the challenges of the world - as a nation, as a united people, and begin to invest and address issues in the context of the strategic and the world's humanity, vice the narrow self interests and reactive nature of our politics and military -- we've become a captive to our tactical nature, we need to move back to become the true world leader of the strategic.
A pipe-dream? Perhaps to some. But many great leaders (e.g., Kennedy, King, Reagan) know, you must start with a dream and that those dreams become reality - not by sitting by, but by doing.
Discussion can continue, but shall we begin?
Comments
Post a Comment