Military Supremacist Approach In The National Security Council

Drawing back the troops from Afghanistan, the United States has seen 15 years of fighting against terrorist that defined its younger generation. As the war against terror enter into its dusk, the dawn of national competition is starting its chapter. With the increasing influence of state actors on the United States national interest, the United States needs continue to adopt the civilian supremacist approach on a strategic level within the National Security Council (NSC) to ensure that foreign policy are created with the best chances of success. By continuing the civilian supremacist approach in the national council, the executive branch allows for a higher chance of foreign policy success by keeping the military free from politics, allowing
By placing the military under a Secretary of Defense, it helps ensure that the leadership tiers of the military are ultimately responsible to the citizens of the United States. As the Secretary of Defense has to be approved by the senate, it is in a way the representation of the approval of by the citizens of the United States. The use of a civilian supremacist approach means that the military ultimately carries out the order of its civilian superior. While the decision may not be the most appropriate choice, it leaves the responsibility of failure to the civilians. Serving as elected officials, they civilians have a mandate to serve the people and they receive feedback by the citizens through vote. This civilian control of the military was created with the intention by the Founding Fathers to prevent a military coup leading to a dictatorship, jeopardizing the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of its
While the United States foreign policy is usually seen as military action, the military serves only as the iron fist behind the velvet. The velvet consists of other tools such as diplomatic relationships, economic sanctions and information exchanges. Using the military as a last resort, the military helps to persuade the threats towards the United States national interest to reconsider. While the military is a professional force adept in securing battlefield victory, it may not be the priority on a strategic level. For example, the adoption of The Pivot by the Obama administration was seen by the general public as the transfer of military capabilities towards the Asian pacific to help counter the growing influence of China in the region. The public may not notice that along with the military, the United States has focused more diplomatic and economic effort within the region. The creation of the Trans-Pacific Pact for example highlights the amount of diplomatic and economic effort as the United States seeks to create stronger alliance within that