Is the U.S. National Security Strategy Balanced. An Assessment of the Role ofDomestic Issues as Part of the National Security Strategy

摘要

Since the end of World War II, U.S. National Security Strategy has been primarilydirected at containment of Soviet Communism. Because of the massive threat to national survival posed by the former Soviet Union's military, the U'S. has relied heavily on the use of the military element of national power as the final guarantor of our nation's security. With the fall of the Soviet Union, other threats, principally economic in nature, have risen as the primary risks to the long term peace and prosperity of the country. This paper details three, interrelated domestic issues: the federal deficit, Middle East oil dependance, and the environment. Each is studied as a possible threat to the national interests of the U.S. as stated in the National Security Strategy of the United States. Using these three problems as examples of the major domestic issues facing the country, observations are made as to why domestic problems have been difficult to solve in our democracy and recommendations are made as to how the national security policy-making structure of the country might be changed to better accommodate domestic economic issues as an important part of the national security strategy.