Chapter 10: National Security and Defense Policy

Exercises

Understanding the Current U.S. Grand Strategy

1. Access information about the Bush administration's grand strategy through PBS's Frontline Web page at www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/iraq/ .

2. Read through the interviews with scholars and policy makers as well as the chronology of the Bush Doctrine.

3. Briefly describe the Bush Doctrine. How did it originate? How does this grand strategy relate to other ones you have read about in Chapter 10 and throughout the book? In what ways is it similar and different?

4. What are the implications of this strategy? Does it lend itself to coercive diplomacy, preemptive war, or preventive war? What tactics are associated with this strategy?

5. Using CNN, the New York Times, and campaign websites, identify challenges to this strategy from presidential candidates or political parties.

Investigating U.S. Military and Strategic Reform

1. Access the Center for Defense Information's Military Reform Project at www.cdi.org/program/index.cfm?programid=37 .

2. Scan through the editorials, reports, and issue briefs regarding how the United States is adjusting its defense and security forces. You may find the Center for Strategic and International Studies helpful ( www.csis.org ).

3. Describe how the U.S. military is reforming. What domestic and international institutions and agencies are changing? What conflicts are expected in this transition?

4. What areas around the world are most affected by the reforms? Are these reforms linked to the U.S. grand strategy? How much reform is possible and why?

Learning about U.S. Security Policy and Terrorism

1. Access the Department of State's annual report on terrorism, “Country Reports on Terrorism,” at http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/c17689.htm .

2. Read through the report, paying close attention to U.S. policies toward terrorism and noticing which countries are listed.

3. What are the current trends of global terrorism? How many terrorist incidents involved U.S. citizens and assets? How does that relate to previous years?

4. What are the current U.S. policies in place to deal with terrorism? What terrorist groups does the United States target as threats? How do counterterrorism policies relate to the current grand strategy of primacy and preemption?