| This study chronicles the trends in thinking by scholars, experts, and policymakers, about how to adjust U.S. national security strategies to counter international threats in the post-cold war era. It also studies the complex relationships that have evolved around the national security policymaking process. It identifies a number of stakeholders who influence the debate, some of which have not been previously considered in the national security literature. It analyzes their participation (or lack thereof) in the independent advisory commissions established to advise policy-makers on national-security-related issues. The research introduces the "interest alliance" and the "advocate" stakeholder---concepts that make it possible to examine the informal, temporary, ad-hoc unions formed by interested stakeholders which include: private sector contractors, military officials, agency senior officials, members of Congress, the White House, and others, in order to navigate the advisory commission process. |
