exam 1

• Articles of Constitution that correspond to branches of gov't:

  
  

  Executive (White House, President, VP) → Article 2

  Legislative (Capitol, Senate, Reps, Congress) → Article 1

  Judicial (Supreme Court) → Article 3
• Common themes within US nat sec (Donald Nuechterline):

  Structure (limitations on actions)

  Processes (rules, procedures, norms, values)

  Agency (legal authorities, positions, roles)

  Prioritization (policies, resource needs, expectations, impact)

  People (decision makers)
• Purpose of checks and balances is to ensure that no one branch of gov't has ultimate power; each branch can 'check' the others to keep them in 'balance'
• Current Secretary of State - Anthony Blinken
• Current Secretary of Defense - Lloyd J. Austin
• Current National Security Advisor - Jake Sullivan
• Components of 'threat triangle' - Capability, intent, opportunity
• Key organizations within EOP:

  White House Office

  NSC

  Council of Economic Advisors

  Office of Management and Budget

  Office of Science and Tech.

  Office of USTR

  Council on Enviro. Quality

  Office of Admin

  Office of National Drug Policy

  Cabinet
• President's 'gatekeeper' is the Chief of Staff (currently Jeff Zients)
• Which President established EOP? Franklin D. Roosevelt
• 3 key features of NSA of 1947:

  Secretary of Defense created

  National Military Establishment created (DoD today)

  NSC established
• Important components of Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986:

  Strengthened role of CJCS, becoming principal military advisor to President and Defense Sec.
• What was 'The Long Telegram'?

  Response to US Treasury from US Embassy in Moscow

  Basic features of post-war Soviet outlook

  Talked about 'containment' (later misconstrued and turned into a military approach)
• Definitions of national security - Encompasses national defense, foreign intelligence and COIN, int'l security, foreign relations
• Top 3 threats to present to President (by class) - Israel, China, cybersecurity (???)
• 5 elements of strategy - Ends (objective), ways (lines of effort), means (resources), costs (price to pay), risks (developments)
• Current statutory members of NSC - President, VP, State, Treasury, Defense, Energy
• Nested interagency committees below NSC:

  Principals Committee (level 2)

  Deputies Committee (level 3)

  Interagency Policy Committees (level 4)