National Security Initiatives : Vivian B Hickey (ed)

This book explores a growing consensus among many national security practitioners and scholars, across the political spectrum, broadly in favor of reforming the interagency system to encourage a more effective application of all elements of national power. The reform debates have included proposals to establish and foster an interagency cadre of national security specialists from all relevant departments and agencies. According to proponents, cadre members would gain a better understanding of the mandates, capabilities and cultures of other agencies through a long-term career development program that might include education training and exchange tours in other agencies. Such recommendations are not new, but they were given a new sense of urgency by recent operational experiences at home and abroad - from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the responses to Hurricane Katrina - which suggested insufficiencies in the abilities of the U.S. Government to integrate the various components of its efforts.