Opinion Piece on National Security Process and Susan Rice’s Role

The arrival of a new assistant to the president for national security affairs is an ideal opportunity to restore best practices to the national security apparatus. To her credit, Susan Rice appears to be reaching out with this very much in mind. If changes are made that better serve the president by forcing people to think through policy options in the context of objectives and strategies, those changes should not reflect poorly on the stewardship of her predecessor. The president gets precisely the national security system he mandates and deserves. He is, as JFK noted in the immediate wake of the Bay of Pigs fiasco, "the responsible officer of government." In the end it is the president, and not the Blackberry or some other device, who will drive the direction and processes of foreign policy and diplomacy. It is up to him to tell his national security advisor that he wants the interagency to stop tweeting and start thinking; to tell him how he should be evaluating US national security objectives with respect to Syria (for example) and strategy options aimed at accomplishing them. This kind of deliberative process will not require people to wear powdered wigs and inscribe talking points on parchment with quill pens. It will not even oblige them to disconnect electronically. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to an orderly national security process that is deliberative is the sheer brainpower of the people sitting atop the bureaucratic pyramid. Barack Obama and Susan Rice are among the very brightest people to serve in the US government. They may think they can figure Syria out themselves, within a small circle of trusted political advisers. They may think they can handle Syria without reaching beyond their own national security staff, without probing deeply into the Departments of State, Defense, the intelligence community, and elsewhere where additional expertise resides. They will outsmart themselves if that is the approach they choose. Blackberry diplomacy is a choice, not a device decision and certainly not a fact of life. Even in this day and age, it is possible to figure out what one wants and how to go about getting it: even in government work. dentons.com HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_030210