Small Wars Journal

The National Security Council: A Tool for Decision

Thu, 03/22/2018 - 2:50pm

The National Security Council: A Tool for Decision by Luke Strange - American Enterprise Institute

Key Points

  • The United States faces a renewed period of great power competition, and the National Security Council, the principal institution for presidential national security decision-making, needs to be up to the task.
  • A disciplined, effective process that is grounded in the NSC’s statutory framework and the lessons of its history can give the president a chance to make good decisions.
  • Rather than treating the NSC as a superagency for national security matters, presidents and their staffs should see the NSC for what it is: a powerful tool to help presidents make decisions.

Read the entire report.