{"id":300,"date":"2012-03-20T18:37:54","date_gmt":"2012-03-21T01:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/?p=300"},"modified":"2012-03-20T18:37:54","modified_gmt":"2012-03-21T01:37:54","slug":"%e2%80%9cwhat-does-the-economy-have-to-do-with-national-security%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/national-security\/%e2%80%9cwhat-does-the-economy-have-to-do-with-national-security%e2%80%9d\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWhat does the economy have to do with national security?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most people in the United States would define national security as military readiness, homeland defense, and generally protecting American interests at home and abroad.\u00a0 They don\u2019t recognize that the economy has an effect on our national security.\u00a0 This is the main purpose of the book \u201cEconomic Security:\u00a0 Neglected Dimension of National Security?<\/a>\u201d edited by Dr. Sheila Ronis for the Center for Strategic Conferencing, Institute for National Strategic Studies and published by the National Defense University Press in the fall of\u00a0 2011.<\/p>\n

Other questions she considered are: \u00a0\u201cBut how does the United States remain strong? What does that mean in a world of globalization? How do we even define what national security is in such a complex and interdependent world? \u00a0Can we survive, let alone remain a superpower, if we no longer control any means of production? \u00a0If we remain a major debtor nation? \u00a0If we continue our dependence on unstable countries for our energy supplies? \u00a0If we invest insufficient amounts of our resources in research and development, science and technology? \u00a0Or if we perceive the training and education of people as a cost as opposed to an investment?\u201d<\/p>\n

This report was the result of a conference held on August 24\u201325, 2010, by the National Defense University.\u00a0 The conference explored the economic element of national power. \u00a0Over two days, several keynote speakers and participants in six panel discussions explored the complexity of this subject and examined the major elements that define the economic component of national security.<\/p>\n

The panels and keynote presentations looked at the economic element of national power from different system views, including the role of debt, the government, industrial capability, energy, science, technology, and human capital\u2014create a systemic view of what could be done to improve an understanding of the economic element of national power. Selected papers from the conference that represent these views comprise this volume, edited by Dr. Sheila Ronis, Director of the Master of Business Administration\/Master of Management Programs at Walsh College and President of The University Group, Inc., a management consulting firm and think tank specializing in strategic management, visioning, national security, and public policy. \u00a0Dr. Ronis has chaired the Vision Working Group of the Project on National Security Reform (PNSR) in Washington, DC, which has been tasked by Congress to rewrite the National Security Act of 1947. As a Distinguished Fellow at PNSR, Dr. Ronis is responsible for the plan and processes to develop the Center for Strategic Analysis and Assessment, to provide the mechanism to conduct foresight studies and the development of the grand strategies that would follow\u2014the kind of studies that would look at an entire system, such as the economy and its relationship to national security.<\/p>\n

Dr. Ronis begins with a definition of national security<\/em> that \u201ccan include anything that adds to the strength of the Nation,\u201d such as \u201cthe strength of our nation\u2019s infrastructure, our strong societal and moral codes, the rule of law, stable government, social, political, and economic institutions, and leadership.\u201d\u00a0 It also includes \u201cour nation\u2019s schools and educational programs to ensure a knowledgeable citizenry and lifelong learning\u2014a must for a democracy.\u201d\u00a0 Then, it also \u201crequires investments in science, engineering, research and development, and technological leadership. We cannot be strong without a viable way to power our cities, feed ourselves, and move from one place to another. Most of all, a strong economy is an essential ingredient of a global superpower.\u201d\u00a0 Without a strong market-based economy we would quickly lose our superpower status. \u00a0We need to have a strong base of globally competitive products and services that produce jobs. The \u201ceconomy must include sound government policies to promote responsible choices and reduce our debt, and grand strategies for energy and environmental sustainability, science and technology leadership (at least in some areas), human capital capabilities, manufacturing, and the industrial base.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cAnd\u2026National security goes to the very core of how we define who we are as a people and a free society. It concerns how we view our world responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Ronis states that there can be no question of the need to include the economic viability of our nation as a major element of national security because \u201cwithout capital, there is no business; without business, there is no profit; without profit, there are no jobs. \u00a0And without jobs, there are no taxes, and there is no military capability.\u00a0 The viability of a nation\u2019s industrial infrastructure, which provides jobs for its people, creates and distributes wealth, and leverages profits, is essential. Without jobs, the quality of peoples\u2019 lives deteriorates to a point where society itself can disintegrate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chapter one is a transcript of the comments made by opening keynote speaker David Walker, U. S. Comptroller General and head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) from 1998 to 2008, and\u00a0 Founder and CEO of the Comeback America Initiative. \u00a0When he started at the GAO, it didn\u2019t have \u201ca strategic, integrated, forward-looking, and outcome-based strategic plan.\u201d \u00a0They put such a plan in place at GAO during his tenure, and he said, \u201cIt is the closest thing that exists to a strategic plan for the Federal Government, but the GAO is in the legislative branch. So we need one for the executive branch. It needs to be led by the OMB (Office of Management and Budget), and hopefully, eventually it will be.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stated, \u201cThings like savings, critical infrastructure, investments in basic research, educational outcomes, and healthcare outcomes are key leading indicators, and in all of these areas, we are below average for an industrialized nation.\u201d \u00a0He contends that if the economic element of national power is neglected and misunderstood, nothing will be more dangerous to the Nation than the national debt and its unintended consequences for generations to come.\u00a0 Last year government represented 25 percent of the economy, above the recent average of 21 percent. \u201cBut if we do not reform our existing entitlement programs and other aspects of government, it will represent about 40 percent of the economy by 2040, and that does not count state and local governments.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stated that the composition of the budget has changed dramatically in the last four decades. \u00a0\u201cForty years ago, it was dominated by defense at 42 percent.\u00a0 Today, it is dominated by social insurance programs, which grow faster than inflation and grow faster than the economy even when the economy is growing. Forty years ago, when Congress came to town, they got to decide how 62 percent of the budget would be spent, of which today defense is about half of the discretionary budget. \u00a0Now they decide how about 38 percent gets spent, and if we continue on our status quo, do nothing, let-it-ride policy, it will go down to 18 percent by 2040. \u00a0This obviously is an imprudent and unsustainable course.\u201d \u00a0He points out that if you count our unfunded Social Security and Medicare debt, our total debt is $62 trillion, not the $14 trillion we hear about.\u00a0 He states that if the total debt is taken into consideration, we are worse off than Spain,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and only three years away from becoming like Greece.\u00a0 His arguments are alarming and are critical for policymakers and every citizen to understand.\u00a0 \u00a0In conclusion, he provides a common-sense approach to making the tough choices and changes we need to make before it\u2019s too late to get our financial house in order.<\/p>\n

In chapter two, John Morton traces the historical roots of the economy and its role in enabling the superpower status of the Nation. \u00a0Mr. Morton is a Distinguished Fellow and the Homeland Security Lead for the Project on National Security Reform. He is also the Strategic Advisor to DomesticPreparedness.com and a consultant to Gryphon Technologies. He states, \u201cToday, America sustains that position primarily through two elements of its national power: its peerless military and its dollar currency, upon which the international monetary and economic system is largely based. A third element initially enabled that hegemony in the 1940s: the national economy\u2014that is, the Nation\u2019s industrial might. Much of that element is no longer present today.\u201d \u00a0He presents a brilliant analysis of how American industry was the foundation of America\u2019s becoming a superpower from the Civil War to the present day and how the alliance of government, science, industry, academe, and the military forged the national security establishment, later called the defense industrial base. \u00a0He proposes that the United States needs an economic grand strategy in order to continue America\u2019s role in the world, which is based on its military and economic prowess and capability.<\/p>\n

In chapter three, Keith Cooley explains his approach to an energy plan, which includes a grand strategy that, if enacted, will support the Nation\u2019s future.\u00a0 Mr. Cooley is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the advisory firm Principia, LLC. \u00a0He previously was President and CEO of NextEnergy, an accelerator for alternative energy businesses and technologies. He paraphrases the International Energy Association definition of energy security as simply \u201cthe assurance of the uninterrupted supply of energy at an affordable price, while respecting environmental concerns.\u201d His chapter addresses the notion of energy security as national security from four points of view that are, in his opinion, strategic priorities:<\/p>\n