From Mission Creep to Smart Power: Creating Balance Within Defense and State

Publisher Marketing: The size of the Defense Department both in terms of financial resources and personnel resources dwarfs the State Department. This unevenness has caused the Defense Department to pick up new missions that traditionally belong to the State Department. The negative consequences go beyond simply high operational tempo. There are also the international perceptions of U. S. military in uniform performing diplomatic functions. American servicemen and women can be trained to accomplish any task, but they will never take off their uniform. The camouflage on the uniform will always evoke sentiments of defense, security and force when needed. When security is assured and the mission shifts to development, training and diplomacy, the U. S. urgently needs a robust State Department fully able to seamlessly step in where the military left off. Currently, this capability does not fully exist. This paper examines where resources and missions can be shifted. Where changes make sense one next has to look at the likelihood that proposals will be politically, practically and economically viable. The second half of the paper examines both the inside and outside players that have influence impacting these proposals and departments. This paper used all available resources that were available as of December 2010. Contributor Bio:  Jones, Matthew Matthew Jones is a lecturer in Information Systems at the University of Cambridge, Judge Business School. He previously held postdoctoral positions at the University of Reading and the University of Cambridge where he was involved in the development of computer-based models for public policy decision- making. He has conducted research using a wide variety of different methods including laboratory experiments, computer simulations, interviews and participant observation and has undertaken fieldwork in organisations in a range of different industries including management consultancy, print and broadcast media, and the energy and healthcare sectors. His research interests are concerned with the relationship between information systems and social and organisational change and he has written widely on theoretical and methodological issues in this area. His work has been published in "Accounting, Organizations and Society, " "Cambridge Journal of Economics, Communications of the ACM, Human Relations, Methods of Information in Medicine", "MIS Quarterly "and" Organization Studies. "He teaches qualitative research methods and research design to MPhil and PhD students in management and a course on researching organisations to graduate students in the social sciences.