Strategic Art: The New Discipline for 21st Century Leaders

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Chilcoat, Richard A.
Copyright Year	1995
Abstract	Dramatic changes in the international system have forced us to reevaluate old strategies and look for new reference points amid the still unsettled debris of the Old World order. At issue for strategic leaders and strategists is the role of the United States in the world and our capabilitiestodefend and promote our national interests in a newenvironmentwherethreats are both diffuse and uncertain, where conflict is inherent, yet unpredictable. These new patterns of uncertainty combined with declining resources pose difficult challenges to national security. . Meeting these challenges requires an integrated, systematic approach to the formulation and execution of strategy. This article is an appeal to strategists to match the success in the development of operationa I art and joint doctri ne with an equa Ily comprehensive approach to strategicart.1 Ifoperational art is an effective guide for the employment offorce, strategic art can be equally effective in guiding the formulation of national security strategy, national military strategy, and theater strategy, thereby linking the use of military forces to the larger political-militarycontext in which wars occur. I n other words, strategic art mustestablish the relationships between military power and other instruments of power. It must also guide combatant and theater commanders in fulfilling their strategic responsibilities. Strategic leadership is the effective practice of the strategic art. Strategists can think about and help devise strategies, but it is the strategic leader who practices the art and makes it happen. A successful search for strategy and the mastery of strategic art by our senior leaders, military and civilian, are vital to the nation. Identifying and mastering the components of strategic art offer no panaceas, but elevati ng the i mportance and ensuri ng the visibi I ity of these steps in the national security debate can serve as constructive counterpoints to such tendencies as political isolationism, militant economic protectionism, military unpreparedness, and emotion-based interventions.
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
DOI	10.21236/ada301857
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://dde.carlisle.army.mil/LLL/DSC/readings/L2_chilcoat.pdf
Alternate Webpage(s)	https://doi.org/10.21236/ada301857
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article