Deconstructing the Tower of Babel: Conflict and Opportunities in the Interagency Process

The interagency process as it currently exists today requires a new approach to enable the United States to bring all the elements of national power to bear on strategic objectives. The current construct of the National Security Council performs adequately at identifying American interests and developing coordinated policy across the expanse of government. However, past experiences 911, Afghanistan, Iraq and Hurricane Katrina has illustrated that there is a disconnect in transitioning sound policy to the point of coordinated execution at the operational level. There are numerous dynamics that interplay when coordination is attempted across such a large entity as the United States government. When taken from within the context of the American political system, the interactions of the numerous dynamics create a challenging environment in which to achieve strategic objectives. The failure of coordination in past complex contingencies does not have to be prologue or the script for future contingencies. Additionally, there are approaches to preserve the American form of government and attain successful execution at the operational level.