Blog 8—

Determining what the aspects of a security strategy should be or exclude, first begs a definition of security. This definition is dependant upon which theoretical school of thought one identifies with, because they range from narrow to broad interpretations of security. A realist would argue that military force is the primary component of security and probably economic superiority as well. The offensive nature of realist IR dictates that the best defense is having a bigger stick than everyone else. Conversely a liberal would concede that military power is important for security, but on a more defensive scale. The liberal doctrine would promote the idea of diplomacy as the key component of security. Strong alliances and an international presence rule liberal security thought. Constructivists would advocate for the promotion of shared values throughout the world. If the international community were to have the same basic set of moral and humanitarian standards, then the community would be far more socially cohesive, thus ensuring the security of all nations.

In President Obama’s National Security Strategy he addresses all of these scholarly viewpoints. He realistically makes the assertion that the U.S. military must adapt to a new and more versatile enemy, thus remodeling the American war machine to be better suited to wage war in the modern world. There was also a heavy focus on healing our economy to retain our hegemonic economic supremacy. The document also prescribes a massive influx of American diplomats to countries around the world, in order to promote peace and democracy. Obama also spoke about keeping the values of the U.S. strong as well as spreading them to places where people are oppressed and can barely conceive the idea of freedom.

The document addressed a large variety of topics as they relate to security, and all have an argument to support them. The only issue with the document, which is a fundamental one, is that there was no outline for how any of the goals he presented were to be achieved. This leaves us with the big question of 'will any change actually occur.'