Finding virtue in strategic denial and deception

Strategic denial and deception (D&D) is an advanced tool of statecraft that not only aims to influence the minds of key decision-makers in target countries, but more importantly, results in actions by the deceived that favor the deceiver. As history has shown, when strategic D&D is executed successfully, it can go a long way in conserving a nation's strength and human treasure. This study examines the core components of a strategic D&D campaign, regardless of the part of the world where it is practiced, what ideological construct is applied or what kind of organizational label is attached to the operation. Case studies on China, Russia and Great Britain challenge a commonly held view that deception is solely a tool of authoritarian, Eastern regimes that embrace secrecy as opposed to democratic, Western-minded regimes that embrace transparency. The case studies further illustrate at what stage in their historical and geopolitical development do states generally harness this tool of statecraft. The study then turns its attention to the United States, exploring the bureaucratic, cultural and geopolitical reasons underlying arguments made by a number of U.S. intelligence and national security experts who either celebrate or lament the United States' alleged neglect of strategic D&D. Lastly, the study takes a broader look at the trajectory of U.S. global power and the need for a more sophisticated foreign policy that relies on the art of balance and power of politics and selective duplicity in managing its global affairs. In an illustration of a potential use of strategic D&D by the United States, the study examines one of the most intractable national security dilemmas facing the United States today: the containment of Iran and restoration of a balance of power in the Persian Gulf region. Strategic D&D is a tool simple in objective, complex in its use and powerful in its results. A deeper understanding of the virtues of strategic D&D by U.S. policymakers may be the necessary path toward preservation of U.S. global power.