Leader: Sheila R. Ronis

 

The Vision and Guiding Principles Working Group is developing a vision of success in the year 2030 for the national security system.  The working group will use this common vision to develop a set of national security guiding principles that will inform the Project's legislative solution.

Organizational theorists suggest that agreement on a vision, purpose, and principles is the most important element in organizational effectiveness.  The Vision and Guiding Principles Working Group examines whether such agreement exists across the national security system, paying particular attention to the intersection of military doctrine and internal procedures used by each department and agency to guide activities in national security affairs. Have the highest authorities in the national security system articulated a government-wide vision, purpose, and set of principles? To what extent has such an articulation unified departmental thinking and action or, on the other hand, to what extent has the failure to articulate such a vision led to departmental fragmentation and policy gridlock? How do the principles of various departments align with or contradict each other? How have they been formulated, disseminated, received and, in some cases, changed?