Economic Security: Neglected Dimension of National Security?

Abstract

Abstract : On August 24 25, 2010, the National Defense University held a conference titled Economic Security: Neglected Dimension of National Security? The conference explored the economic element of national power. Often ignored and misunderstood in relation to national security, the economy has been taken for granted for years, but its strength is the foundation of national security. Over 2 days, several keynote speakers and participants in six panel discussions explored the complexity surrounding this subject and examined the major elements that, interacting as a system, define the economic component of national security. As the Nation begins to understand the imperative of putting its problem-solving apparatus into a global systemic context, that framework was used to explore the topic because, as Albert Einstein said, We cannot solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. And the linear solution sets we once used to solve simplistic problems are of little value in a world of complex systems. This conference was designed around a systemic framework that could be used to develop a grand strategy surrounding the Nation s economy as a subsystem of national security. The panels and keynote presentations looked at the economic element of national power from different system views. Those views including the role of debt, the government, industrial capability, energy, science, technology, and human capital create 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.

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