A Framework for Strategy Development

John G. McGinn, Gregory F. Treverton, Jeffrey A. Isaacson, David C. Gompert, M. Elaine Bunn

ResearchPublished Apr 29, 2002

Many observers have noted that past formulations of American military strategy, such as the Shape, Respond, Prepare Now approach that the Department of Defense used from 1997 until 2001, have been longer on philosophy than on practicalities. To address those shortcomings, this report outlines a preliminary framework designed to better link strategy with resource priorities and more accurately frame key investment choices. This report contains the results of a study designed to assist the Department of Defense in its efforts to refine the defense strategy in light of recent experiences and to address expectations about future challenges to U.S. national security. The framework model presented in this report provides a space in which decisionmakers can display strategic options and their inherent tradeoffs, debate the merits of those competing choices, and then decide on a specific strategy.

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McGinn, John G., Gregory F. Treverton, Jeffrey A. Isaacson, David C. Gompert, and M. Elaine Bunn, A Framework for Strategy Development. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2002. https://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1392.html.
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The research described in this report was sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). The research was conducted in RAND's RAND National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center supported by the OSD, the Joint Staff, the unified commands, and the defense agencies.

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