Running head: NSC STRUCTURE COMPARISON 1
NSC STRUCTURE COMPARISON 10
Comment by Christin: Hi, Alfreda!Welcome to the Online Writing Center (OWC). I appreciate the opportunity to review this paper! 😊While I will be providing comments throughout your paper, please note that I will not be editing or marking every error. Our goal is to help you further improve your writing, and I will do my best to aid you in that journey. When applicable, I will also share links to helpful resources.If you see the term “Apply throughout” in a comment, it means that the same issue occurs in other areas of your paper. Those highlighted words indicate that you’ll need to scan through the rest of your draft to locate and resolve similar errors.Be sure to review the APA formatting requirements before submitting your paper for final grading. There is a great online resource for the basics of APA formatting at 0. Please note that all graduate and doctoral students are required to use the formatting guidelines for “professional” papers, not for “student” papers, as defined in sections 2.1 and 2.2 of APA-7.I hope these comments help!If you have any specific questions that I did not address here, feel free to email the OWC at [email protected]. Also, please be sure to complete the Student Satisfaction Survey located at the bottom of your completed request.Thanks for using the OWC!-ChristinDisclaimer: Remember that the OWC is not an editing service. Our comments and suggestions are not exhaustive. Our service is designed to help you recognize and correct your writing so that you can become a better writer. Except where otherwise noted, formatting suggestions follow the latest (7th) edition of the APA Publication Manual (second printing). If in doubt about whether to use the 6th or 7th edition, please consult your professor. Comment by Christin: APA 7 eliminates the phrase “Running head” from the page header on the title page. The running head should now be the same on all pages. It should consist of a shortened title of your paper in all caps and should be flush right, with the page number flush left (APA 2.8).
NSC Structure Comparison Comment by Christin: The title of the paper should be in boldface font on the title page (APA 2.4) as is shown in the example on p. 1 of the APA Sample Paper.
Name Alfreda Dunlap
Course NSEC501
NSC Structure Comparison Comment by Christin: The title of the paper should be written out on the very top line of the first page of the body of the paper. It should be centered, boldface, and in title case (meaning that every major word, typically those with four letters or more, should start with a capital letter) (APA 2.11). See p. 6 of the APA Sample Paper for an example.
National Security Council (NSC) structure is imperative in advising and assisting the ruling president in making decisions on national and foreign security policies. The structures differ from one another as per the president’s preferences. This can be seen in the case of the structure during Trump’s administration and President Bush;s administration. Defense strategies, intelligence, and coordination are considered in the policymaking procedures carried out after analyses of expected and current threats. Recommendations presented by the advisory through the presidents are formed from the intelligence of various security committees. The paper will examine the National Security Council structures during Trump’s and Bush’s administrations’ similarities and differences. In addition, the strengths and weaknesses of each structure will be reviewed. The development of a proposed structure for the POTUS will also be included. Global Security Council structures are significant to evade crises and threats. Comment by Christin: There appears to be unnecessary extra line spacing above this paragraph. APA formatting requires paragraphs to be double-spaced with no extra line spacing between paragraphs or before or after headings, and indented 0.5.” Using MS Word’s “Home” “Paragraph” makes formatting easier. Change the spacing before and after to “0” (APA 2.21). Apply throughout.Resource: APA Format Quick Guide Comment by Christin: Apostrophes should be used for the possessive form (“Jacob’s use of apostrophes is correct”), with few exceptions. It is incorrect to use the singular form to indicate possession (“Jacob use of singular is incorrect”). Apply throughout. Resource: Apostrophe Use Comment by Christin: Your sentence here may be difficult for your reader to follow in its current form. Careful word choice and proper punctuation can help to increase your reader’s understanding of the points you’re trying to convey. Resource: Improving Sentence Clarity Comment by Christin: You’re off to a good start here. Consider also including a thesis statement that clearly conveys the central idea of your entire paper and presents an argument that is reflective of your post-research critical thinking. It’s always best to place the thesis statement at the end of the introduction. This serves as a transition into the rest of the paper, which supports the thesis statement.A thesis statement is a strong statement (consisting of a single sentence) that you can prove with evidence. It is not a simple statement of fact; it makes a claim others might dispute or challenge. A thesis statement can also be thought of as the angle or point of view from which you present your material. A strong thesis statement: (1) tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion, (2) is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper, (3) directly answers the question asked of you or by you, (4) makes a claim that others might dispute, and (5) is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader. Please refer to this link on the OWC for further assistance: https://www.liberty.edu/casas/academic-success-center/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2019/04/What_is_a_Thesis_Statement.pdf
Similarities
Both structures in the countries depend on interagency systems. Intelligence obtained from the systems is combined, as reported by the committee heads and secretaries. The National Security Advisor appointed to lead the advisory board in coordinating and advising the president (Bell, 2019). In addition, the agencies have to cooperate and liaise with each other for clarity of intelligence, enabling the advisory process to be effective. Both leaders uphold consultations from the agency systems on National Security affairs. Even during crises, interagency coordination is highly considered in the policy development processes (Bell, 2019). For example, the defense secretary, homeland security, foreign secretary, Central Intelligence Agency, and Trade secretary have to be involved from the agencies and ministries. The president with other statutory attendees such as the secretary of defense, treasury, state, and vice president form the committee (Bolton, 2017). The committee serves as the right hand in the coordination of security policies in conjunction with other security agencies. Comment by Christin: Sentence fragment. A sentence fragment is part of a sentence that is written as if it were a whole sentence, with a capital letter at the beginning and a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point at the end. A fragment may lack a subject, a complete verb, or both. Other fragments may begin with a subordinating conjunction, such as because, and so depend for their meaning on another sentence. Reading your draft out loud, backwards, sentence by sentence, will help you spot sentence fragments. The OWC has an excellent presentation on sentence fragments: https://www.liberty.edu/casas/academic-success-center/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2019/04/Sentence-Fragments.pdf
A National Security Advisor is appointed in the structures to provide expert advice. Additionally, the advisor is responsible for coordinating policies and initiatives among ministries and agencies (Hardley, 2016). This is imperative in enabling a sense of agency in the interagency processes, as advocated for by the executives. Intelligence obtained from the agencies plays a significant role in obtaining an understanding and support of policies presented to the security council and how the council heads will support the policies (Hardley, 2016). This is determined by the coordination of the agencies and ministries and their input when relaying information on policy matters. Emergency coordination bodies also are as enabled by the advisor during policies and resource allocation support from the executives in dealing with national threats. This increases the ability of the executive to make decisions and policies which observe unity and the high authority (Bolton, 2017).
Strategies in both security structures follow priorities, threats, resource allocation, and response on defence positions increasing the national preparedness. This is imperative in ensuring that both current and anticipated threats have developed contingency plans (Thomson & Blagden, 2018). Security reviews carried out not only improve on the policies already developed but also new policies that are coherent in improving the overall security policymaking process. This is because the decisions are made through joint assessment through oversight and intelligence from the agencies. Further, the strategies have a military balance in which security forces heads provide an overview of the strategies (Thomson & Blagden, 2018). This ensures that strategies consider senior military intelligence in the advisory committee influencing National Security Structures. Principals, policy coordination, and deputies committees review and monitor policies as attained from the interagency systems (Bell, 2019). Comment by Christin: Spelling
Both President Trump and Bush administration considered the separate roles of Homeland security and the National Security Council. With the NSC foreseeing international security threats and issues, the Homeland Security Council is concerned with the domestic threats and priorities as per the CSR report (2017). In addition, the NSC can integrate domestic and military policies on matters pertaining to international security. This led to changes in who has authority on both entities. In both administrations, the Assistant to the president in matters concerning national security has authority over the two entities according to the CSR report (2017). Comment by Christin: Full titles of departments, divisions, centers, programs, long-standing committees, etc. are capitalized. The generic terms department, division, center, and ad-hoc committees/task forces are lowercased when used alone, unless they need to be capitalized for legal reasons. For example, instead of “narcotics anonymous” or “U.S department of defense,’ the correct alternatives would be “Narcotics Anonymous” or “U.S Department of Defense.” Resource: Capitalization Comment by Christin: Job titles are not capitalized when used descriptively. For example, “The senior managing directors attended the meeting.”Resource: When to Capitalize Job Titles
Differences
A political advisor in Trump’s administration has been included in the structure as a regular and permanent attendee. This is in comparison with Bush’s administration in which a political strategist was a regular attendee (McInnis & Rollins, 2017). The political advisor has to regularly attend the council meetings and offer his advice on policies from a political point of view. This is especially imperative in policies and strategies regarding international security threats. The advisor also bears positive strategies in respect with the president being a chief strategist to the president (McInnis & Rollins, 2017). The changes also reduced the secretary of energy to become an irregular attendee to the council meetings. During Bush’s tenure, the secretary of energy was a statutory member of the council. Comment by Christin: Wordiness. It seems that you may have used more words here than necessary to make your point. Graduate level writing is to be clear and concise. Consider revising. For example, instead of “The research study showed that the research study results were groundbreaking,” the correct alternative would be “The research study’s results were groundbreaking.”Please see the helpful resource on the OWC website at: https://www.liberty.edu/casas/academic-success-center/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2019/04/On_Writing_Concisely.pdf
Trump’s NSC structure is observed to have increased congress input as compared to Bush’s structure during his presidency. For instance, the appropriation of subcommittees and staff personnel influences the operations micromanagement as per the CSR report (2017). The limited congress numbers of individuals in the policymaking processes have increased due to the separation of Homeland and National Security councils compared to Bush’s tenure. This has been due to the organization of the security staff from the executive office and other government agencies. This also has a consideration of the attendees and participants that the current structure approach that has been undertaken by President Trump. According to the CSR report (2017), the revised security organization changed the roles some of the directors had in order to remain as permanent attendees, such as the Director of National Intelligence. Comment by Christin: “Congress” is capitalized when referring to the U.S House and Senate. For example, “Congress will vote on the proposed bill tomorrow.” Apply throughout.Resource: Is “Congress” Capitalized?
Strengths
Trump’s structure has been able to address and appreciate its American Dream strengths. This has been through the implementation, alignment, and coordination of defense policies for military strategy, competition, and economic advancement (Strange, 2018). This is significant to the nation for both domestic and international growth through the political advisor’s advice. Assessment of the council objectives, commitments, and risks concerning policies ensures that the president makes decisions that carry out government policies. Also, the structure boasts of containment of threat and crisis capabilities through cooperation and intelligence operations (Strange, 2018). This articulates the responsibilities of the executive branch of the government to been performed with effectiveness as expected by the public.
Both Trump’s and Bush’s structures have integrated the Homeland Security Council and the National Security Council as separate entities. This has enabled the effectiveness of security functions and coordination (McInnis & Rollins, 2017). With Homeland Security increasing its focus on internal domestic security defense, the National Security Council focuses more on international and transnational security issues. This subjected the councils to obtain concrete intelligence on the threats increasing the effectiveness of the policies. This has created a balance on policies held in addressing inconsistencies with the increased risk of terror activities. Comment by Christin: “This” is an overused pronoun. Be careful in its use that the reader can see to what noun “this” is referring and for the sake of clarity, be careful about beginning sentences with “This.” In this case, “this” seems to be referring to “ ,” but you apparently mean “this” to refer to “ .” Apply throughout.
Weaknesses
Weaknesses seen in Trump’s structure are the increased inability to consider the advice of the council. This can be due to the inclusion of the political advisor to the committee. The political advisor may have limited expertise in global security affairs, which in turn influences the council’s advice to the president during policymaking decisions (Montanaro, 2017). This creates loopholes when political agendas are prioritized as compared to the prioritization of domestic and foreign security threats. This can limit the professionalism that the administration takes when employing expert advice on national matters. Comment by Christin: Are there any other weaknesses you intended to mention here? I ask because you mention “weaknesses” indicating plural but then only seem to mention one weakness here.
During Bush’s administration, a weakness could be seen in integrating statutory advisors to the council to attend the principals meetings. This could impact the decision-making processes in cases where responsibilities and expertise opinions differed in discussions (McInnis & Rollins, 2017). The current administration changed the roles and participation of some regular members in the security meetings. This would ensure that end decisions and policies were in respect to the chair of the joint chiefs of staff. Also, Bush’s administration’s weakness in the intentions of the security meetings participations could influence the advice given to the head of the state.
POTUS Proposed structure Comment by Christin: APA level one headings should be boldface, centered, and in title case, meaning that every major word (generally words with more than three letters) should be capitalized (APA 2.27).See pp. 11-12 of the APA Sample Paper for examples of the various heading levels.
A proposal on the removal of the political advisor from the current National Security would be applicable. This would reduce the notion that the political agenda of the president is higher as compared to security of the nation. The political advisor’s role could instead be taken by the Director of Intelligence becoming a permanent participant of the principals committee. The current changes in the structure could also involve the secretary of energy. This is because the secretary plays a huge role in the production of military power through energy. Nuclear weapons production and distribution, for instance, require the input of the secretary to ensure safety and deterrence during use. In addition, the secretary would offer oversight on the governance of nuclear energy towards combating security threats and the impact it can have on domestic threats.
Conclusion
National Security Council structures are as designed and modeled by the current ruling presidents as per their preferences. Trump’s and Bush’s presidency tenure are articulated to have a lot of similarities as compared to differences. For instance, both presidents chose to treat Homeland Security and the National Security Councils as different entities. This increased focus on intelligence regarding policies on domestic and foreign threats, respectively. Major differences are observed on the organization and the inclusion of council participants. The inclusion of a political advisor during Trump’s administration increases the notion prioritization of political agendas as compared to national security and defense. This has created a huge controversy on the strengths of the adopted structure. Despite this, both Bush and Trump tenures have facilitated national security policies to meet the purpose of the nation. The protection and safety of the citizens have been held within the structures as per the statutory foundations. This has ensured consistency in facing significant challenges and threats in the past and in the future, from domestic and foreign domains. Comment by Christin: When referring to more than one, be sure to use the plural form. For instance, instead of “Jacklyn bought two new sweater at the department store,” the correct alternative would be “Jacklyn bought two new sweaters at the department store.”Resource: Plurals Comment by Christin: You did a nice job summarizing your key points in your conclusion here.
References Comment by Christin: The heading, References, should be centered and bolded at the top of the page at the one-inch margin; double space after. The works referenced should be double spaced, and there should be no extra line spacing between entries (APA 2.12). Apply throughout.There is a sample References page beginning on p. 30 of the APA Sample Paper.
Bell, M. (2019). DoD in the interagency system. Preparing senior staff officers for joint strategic assignments.
Bolton, L. (2017). National Security Office responsibilities and functions. Institute of development studies. Comment by Christin: When referencing an online pdf file, the general format is: Author’s last name, Author’s first and middle initials. (Publication year). Title of pdf. Retrieved from URL. For example: Goodwin, A.C. (2005) (APA 10.4). Reevaluation of short-term recognition studies. http://ojs.lib.swin.edu/cognition. Resource: Comprehensive APA 7 Reference List
Hadley, J. (2016). The role and importance of the National Security Advisor. Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs. http://defense360.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Scowcroft-Paper-1_Hadley_The-Rolland-Importance-of-the-NSA.pdf
McInnis, K. & Rollins, J. (2017). Trump Administration changes to the National Security Council: frequently asked questions. CSR insight. Retrieved from https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/IN10640.pdf Comment by Christin: Please note that the phrase “Retrieved from” is no longer used for web page reference entries per the new APA 7 guidelines (APA 9.16).When referencing a website, the general format is: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of webpage. Name of website. URL (APA 10.16). Apply throughout.For example: Harwood, W. (2020, May 17). Atlas 5 rocket launches Pentagon spaceplane on mission shrouded in secrecy. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/atlas-5-rocket-launches-pentagon-spaceplane-on-secrecy-shrouded-mission/When a web page has no author, use name of the organization or agency as the author. For example: American Psychological Association. (2000). Addictions among adolescents. http://apa.org/topics/addiction/index.aspx Resource: Citing Webpages
Montanaro, D. (2017). Spin aside, Trump’s National Security Council has a very big change. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2017/01/30/512489785/fact-check-spin-aside-trumps-national-security-council-has-a-very-big-change
Strange, L. (2018). The National Security Council: A tool for decision. American Enterprise Institute. Retrieved from https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/the-national-security-council-a-tool-for-decision/
The CSR report. (2017). The National Security Council: Background and issues for congress. Retrieved from https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R44828.html
Thomson, c. & Blagden, D. (2018). A very British National Security state: Formal and informal institutiona in the design of UK security policy. The British journal of politics and international relations 20(3). Comment by Christin: Spelling
Comment by Christin: Alfreda,I enjoyed reading your essay! You provided many interesting details in your NSC structure comparison. Additionally, you wrote clearly, and the content flows well. You also consulted a variety of scholarly sources, and you did a good job using headings to enhance the paper’s organization. Overall, this is a very nice paper!When you revise your draft, I recommend that you focus on APA 7 formatting, apostrophe use, and sentence structure as noted. Further APA 7 guidance, including links to helpful resources, is available in the OWC’s APA Formatting Quick Guide. Additionally, it seems that your professor may be expecting a biblical integration component for this assignment—based on the instructions you provided—so you may wish to include biblical application. If you are not sure about your professor’s specific expectations regarding this, consider reaching out to him/her directly for clarity.For additional grammar and formatting resources, consider reviewing the many helpful writing aids on the OWC website at: http://www.liberty.edu/academics/graduate/writing/index.cfm?PID=12268 If you have any specific questions that I did not address here, you can email the OWC, request a Skype appointment, or use the Livechat option. I sincerely hope my suggestions are helpful to you! I wish you all the best as you move forward in your courses this semester.God bless!Christin
