Unity of Effort: An Interagency Combatant Command

摘要

As the United States conducts the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) it is evident from our experience, doctrine, and strategy that the conflict will not be resolved solely through either military strength or diplomatic maneuvering. The combination of all instruments of national power allows the United States and her allies the full spectrum of options to respond and deter terrorist and conventional threats. Is the United States agile enough to respond globally, short of a major theater war. Deterrence and engagement are dynamic responsibilities tasked primarily to the unified combatant commander through the National Military Strategy and Joint Strategic Capabilities Plan. The Department of State, Central Intelligence Agency, and other agencies are the key players; each can become Lead Federal Agencies in the U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS). The single entity that coordinates these efforts is the National Security Council (NSC), the President's principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials. The NSC also serves as the President's principal arm for coordinating these policies among various government agencies. This 1949 construct may have been sufficient in the Cold War but the 21st Century requires greater agility to respond to both domestic and foreign threats. The NSC is the correct model for planning and assessing our NSS, but it is not optimized to coordinate and implement this strategy on a daily basis. An integrated civil-military combatant command is the model for the United States to deter and defeat adversaries and engage regional partners in the 21st century. Properly structured to include interagency representation, a combatant commander's headquarters and associated staff would provide the nucleus for interagency reorganization.