U.S. Army War College: National Security and ‘Sustainability’

The U.S. Army War College’s Center for Strategic Leadership (CSL) has recently published a great book titled: “Sustainability and National Security.” They are currently highlighting an extract from Chapter Two, which was written by one of our favorite scholars, Dr. Kent Hughes Butts, and Brent C. Bankus, both at CSL.

Below is the chapter summary from the war college website:

SUMMARY

This extract, the second chapter of a CSL’s recently published book Sustainability and National Security, examines the concept of sustainability and its value as an explanatory variable in national security issues. The authors argue that sustainability is a valuable ‘lens’ which can help:

— identify vulnerabilities in the U.S. resource base and suggest regions or countries that should receive National Security Strategy priority in order to mitigate shortfalls,

— provide a framework for analyzing the vulnerabilities of peer competitors,

— explain competitors’ geopolitical strategies and identify potential for regional resource competition (e.g., Africa and the Arabian-Persian Gulf), and

— bring a valuable perspective to crafting national security policy roles and missions for the elements of national power.

This chapter, and the entire book, are definitely worth a read.