THE NATIONAL WAR COLLEGE
Academic Year 1999-2000
 

Syllabus
Course 5601
Fundamentals
of 
Statecraft
 

19 August through 24 September 1999
This document contains educational material designed to promote discussionby students of the National War College. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the National Defense University or the Department of Defense.
Dr. Terry L. Deibel
Course Director

Dr. Bernard D. Cole
Chairman, Department of National Security Policy

BEST SEMINAR PAPERS, COURSE 5601, AY 1999-2000

 
Good policy dependson the patient accumulation of nuances;care has to be taken that individual movesare orchestrated into a coherent strategy.Only rarely do policy issues appearin terms of black and white. More usually they depend on shades of interpretation; significant policy deviations begin as minor departures whose effect becomes apparent only as they are projected into the future....

In foreign policy the most important initiativesrequire painstaking preparation; results takemonths or years to emerge. Success requires a sense of history, an understanding of manifold forces not within our control, and a broad view of the fabric of events....

Foreign policy. . . is the mastery of nuance;it requires the ability to relate disparate elementsinto a pattern.

Henry A. Kissinger
TABLE OF CONTENTS
[Click on the title of the section you want to see.]

Course Overview

Course Design
Course Objectives
Course Themes
Course Requirements
Conclusions and Acknowledgements

Course Outline

Block A: Philosophies of Statecraft

Topic 1. Security and Strategy in the Post-Cold War Era
Topic 2. Contending Traditions in American Statecraft
Topic 3. The Shape of American Public Opinion

Block B: Ends

Topic 4. Interests, Threats, and Opportunities
Topic 5. The International Political Environment
Topic 6. The Globalized Economic Environment

Block C: Means

Topic 7. Power and Influence
Topic 8. Coordinating Statecraft: The Art of Diplomacy
Topic 9. Persuasive Instruments:
                International Organization
                International Law
                Public Diplomacy in the Information Age
Topic 10. Cooperative Instruments:
                Alliances
                Foreign Assistance
                Trade Policy
Topic 11. Coercive Instruments:
                Sanctions
                Covert Action
                Force and Diplomacy

Block D: Integrating Strategy

Topic 12. Thinking Strategically
Topic 13. Strategies of Containment:
                Kennan and NSC-68
                The New Look and Flexible Response
                Détente and After
Topic 14. The Gulf Crisis: Bush’s Strategy before the Counterattack

Block E: Strategy in the Post-Cold War Era

Topic 15. Bush and Clinton as Post-Cold War Presidents
Topic 16. Alternative Strategies for the Future
Topic 17. Doing Strategy: A Workshop

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