"Strengthening U.S. Strategic Planning"

Aaron L. Friedberg, the former director of policy planning in the Office of Vice President Cheney, has an article in the current issue of The Washington Quarterly (Winter 2007-8, Volume 31, Number 1). In the article, he gives a very nice short description of strategic planning at the highest level of government. He then points out the strategic planning capacity that existed in the Eisenhower administration (with an effective committee of chief agency planners meeting frequently, at the behest of the president) has not existed for decades. He suggests that there are serious bureaucratic, political, and intellectual reasons for this situation. Still, he feels, as I do, that a strong strategic planning capacity supporting the White House decision makers would improve U.S. government performance over what we have seen in recent years. He suggests some alternatives to improve the situation, from a strong interdepartmental planning group, to a planning unit in the National Security Council, to a small strategic planning team in the NSC. I think the article is worth reading.