2017 National Security Strategy Policy Analysis
Hamza Demirel
CYSE425W
Edwin Wells IV
The strategy that I have chosen to analyze this semester is the National Security Strategy of the United States of America from December of 2017. In President Trumps Strategy he “lays out a strategic vision for protecting the American people and preserving our way of life, promoting our prosperity, preserving peace through strength, and advancing American influence in the world” (NSS, 2017, p. II). This strategy was developed with the intention of strengthening the American power set and sovereignty to protect the four national interests listed previously. In establishing this America first strategy and reciprocal relations with other countries “America will catalyze conditions to unleash economic success for America and the world” (NSS, 2017, p. 4).
With the direction and national goals set in place by President Trump the Department of State (DOS), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are the most affected federal organizations (Weaver, 2018). The National Security Strategy serves as guidepost for these organizations to create their own plans and strategies to execute the national interest. Issuing such a strategy early in President Trump’s term “bodes well for the interagency process of strategy formulation” (Ashford et al., 2017, p. 4). The plans made by these organizations also “serve two primary purposes. First, they serve as marching orders for these mammoth actors, and secondly are used to help in the setting of priorities when preparing budget requests and their subsequent executions” (Weaver, 2018, p.63).
Not only does the National Security Strategy affect domestic policy makers it also affects foreign policy as well. President Trump’s strategy differs from previous presidencies which “rejects Obama’s internationalism, Bush’s transformational agenda, and Clinton’s embrace of globalization. In its place is a full-throated commitment to maintaining primacy and unbinding the US from multilateral obligations” (Ettinger, 2018, p. 475). In doing so the strategy guides us back to an older approach for US foreign economic policy of reciprocity. The National Security Strategy “reflects a program to supplant the post-World War II system of international trade rules with bilateral economic relations that in almost every case would be dominated by the US” (Ettinger, 2018, p. 479).
The National Security Strategy guides domestic and foreign policy making but how does it relate to and guide the field of cyber security? The priority actions listed in the strategy for cyber security are identify and prioritize risk, build defensible government networks, deter and disrupt malicious cyber actors, improve information sharing and sensing, and deploy layered defenses (NSS, 2017). While these are classic and well-deserved practices, Ashford et al. (2017) finds the strategy to be lacking and missed opportunities to further explanation or development.
Three main national security questions are identified by the author:
First, how can America deter adversaries, particularly Russian hackers emboldened by their successful interference in the 2016 election, from acting similarly again? Second, how can it defend American electoral networks from foreign penetration? And third, how can it manage the clear and present threat of information operations enabled in part by hacking, a danger that strikes at the very heart of the democratic process? (Ashford et al., 2017, p. 36)
These questions raise the point that new and emerging threats and vectors of attack are emerging every day. The National Security Strategy may not specifically list out how to deal with these areas but perhaps this will give domestic departments the room and goal to develop their own plans.
President Trump in his first year of term announced the National Security Strategy that gives guidance for the development, coordination, and goals for the United States. The pillars described are to protect American way of life, promote prosperity, promote peace, and the increase America’s influence. This document guides domestic departments with developing their plans. Most affected are the DOS, DOD, and DHS. Internationally the document sets the tone for trade agreements and relations with other countries. The security threats addressed in the document are viewed as traditional approaches in a new digital era. However, departments that work closely with the threats have the opportunity to develop their own plans within the guidance of the National Security Strategy of 2017.
References
Ashford, E., Itzkowitz Shifrinson, J. R., Hill, A., Buchanan, B., Cooper, Z., Rapp-Hooper, M., Medina, C., McGrath, B., & Deptula, D. A. (2017, December 21). Policy roundtable: What to make of Trump’s National Security Strategy. Texas National Security Review. https://tnsr.org/roundtable/policy-roundtable-make-trumps-national-security-strategy/#essay2
Ettinger, A. (2018). Trump’s National Security Strategy: “America first” meets the establishment. International Journal: Canada’s Journal of Global Policy Analysis, 73(3), 474–483. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020702018790274
NSS booklayout fin 121917 – the white house. Trump Whitehouse. (2017, December 18). https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905.pdf
Weaver, J. (2018). The 2017 national security strategy of the United States. Journal of Strategic Security, 11(1), 62–71. https://doi.org/10.5038/1944-0472.11.1.1655