On that National Security Strategy

The White House released its long-awaited National Security Strategy (NSS) today. There are lots of reviews of it, so I won’t go into great detail about it (except to note that I agree with Andrew Exum, the laundry list and lack of prioritization is disappointing and will probably create more problems than it solves).

There are two points I would like to highlight, one good and one bad. The first is that it recognizes that our capacity to project power abroad depends on the strength of our economy. I am really glad to see this. I have been worried for some time the we are making military commitments abroad that we can’t finance. We are going to have to adjust one way or another. I am pleased to see that the NSS argues we must fix our economy so we can maintain our military strength.

The bad point is the clear contradiction at the center of the strategy:

Going forward, there should be no doubt: the United States of America will continue to underwrite global security …As we do, we must recognize that no one nation – no matter how powerful – can meet global challenges alone.

Like many others, I am not sure what this means. How can we underwrite global security if the challenges we face are too large for us to handle alone?