CLSC Dialogues – Ep 25 – Rick Gunnell and COL Michael Long – Discussion on the New National Security Strategy and its Relevance to the Pacific

Rick Gunnell and Colonel Michael Long discuss the latest National Security Strategy and its implications for the US posture toward the Indo-Pacific.

Mr. Rick Gunnell Welcome to CLSC Dialogues. Production of the China Landpower Studies Center at the Army War College. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the guests and not necessarily those of the Department of Army, US Army War College, or the US government. I'm Rick Gunnell, research professor of China military studies here at the China Landpower Studies Center. And today, I'm talking to the director of the Army's China Center, Colonel Mike Long, about America's newly published National Security Strategy.

COL Mike Long Thank you so much, Rick, for hosting this. And for those who aren't as familiar. The China Landpower Studies Center, as CLSC as we like to call it. I just wanted to first off, kind of make sure everybody knew who you were as one of the subject matter experts, chief researcher and experts on China, especially the PLA and its leadership. Rick is a Chinese speaker and an expert in the region, so we're very lucky to have him here hosting today's podcast. So, we're not just going to talk about the National Security Strategy. We're going to talk about its implications to the region as well as China specifically. So let me go to answer your question. And your question was on a little bit of background. So first let's kind of think about what the National Security Strategy is. And it is that it's America's grand strategy. It's our highest-level strategy. It's mandated for the White House to produce this. So in 1986, a Congressional mandate called the Goldwater-Nichols Act came out. Most of the Goldwater-Nichols Act is focused on what the US military needs to do, but there are some portions for what the executive branch has to do, and one of them is publishing a National Security Strategy.

Gunnell What is the goal of the National Security Strategy and who is the audience?

Long The goal is to ensure that the executive branch is aligned around a singular strategy in all of its policies, and then what Congress is looking for is a rationale behind the budget. And so Congress controls the purse. And what they want to understand is what is the strategy that needs to be funded by Congress. When you talk about the audience, which I thought was a great question, the audience is, of course, the rest of the executive branch to ensure that all of the service secretaries and those who work for them are aligned in policy and strategy. But it's also, like we said, Congress to say what the budget needs to be. It's also the American people. You know, you can see when you read this document that a lot of this document is talking directly to the American people. In addition to that, it's our allies and our partners around the world as well as our adversaries. I think this has a wide audience after the National Security Strategy.

Gunnell Are there other documents that will follow that will help kind of support or play out what is in the security strategy?

Long The term we like to use is they nest. So from this document, the National Security Strategy, from the military's perspective, we have a series of other strategies now. This document, the National Security Strategy tends to be the most political. This one is no exception. It’s a very political document as you read into it. But when you look at these subordinate documents that the military produces, first is by the Secretary of War will develop a National Defense Strategy, then the chairman, the Joint Chiefs of Staff will develop a National Military Strategy. From that, each one of the service secretaries will develop their own service strategies, and you'll see the combat commands make theater or more functional strategies for their areas as well. And so this is the overall document from which all that is aligned diving into the 2025 National Security Strategy, the NSS.

Gunnell What would you say is the