Strategy at any level can be defined as the assimilation of ends (interests) ways (policies/methods), and means (resources). Developmet of a grand strategy should also align strategies at the strategic (long-term), operational (mid-term) and tactical (short-term) levels. Next challenge is deployment which requires a common framework among the key stakeholders. The fact that the topic is even addressed indicates the need for a strategy for developing strategy.
Wanted: A New Grand Strategy, By Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek, Nov 29, 2008,
Grand strategy sounds like an abstract concept—something academics discuss—and one that bears little relationship to urgent, jarring events on the ground. But in the absence of strategy, any administration will be driven by the news, reacting rather than leading. For a superpower that has global interests and is forced to respond to virtually every problem, it’s all too easy for the urgent to drive out the important.
Strategy begins by looking at the world and identifying America’s interests, the threats to them and the resources available to be deployed. By relating all these, one can develop a set of foreign policies that will advance America’s interests and ideals. When the unexpected happens, one can respond in ways that are aligned with these broader objectives. One uses the urgent to pursue the important. Or, to put it another way: never let a crisis go to waste.
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