The National Security Act of 1947, passed at the outset of the Cold War, represented the biggest change in the organization of the United States' national security apparatus since the birth of the Republic. Today the question arises whether the organizations created in 1947 are still relevant in the post-Cold War world.
This book develops an intellectual and operational framework for national security policy planning and is intended to serve as a practical guide to much-needed structural reform based on today's changing missions, threats, and environment. The reforms proposed seek to create, through a more agile and accountable organization, the ability as well as the political and institutional imperative for the president to take the lead in forging a public consensus on security affairs.
