I am looking forward to presenting “The Case for a Grand Strategy of Network Centrality” at the Inter University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society in Kingston, CA this weekend.
The paper asks how should the United States employ its defense, development, and diplomatic tools to look beyond war to the subsequent peace? Anne-Marie Slaughter offered a response to that question and proposed a grand strategy of “network centrality” – the United States, in an era of global networks, should position itself close to the center of the political, economic, social, diplomatic, and military networks that most affect its interests. The purpose of this study is to investigate a strategic approach of network centrality that leverages interdependence to foster stability. This essay will offer an empirical model that supports a strategic approach that leverages interdependence to facilitate collective action and foster stability. If this remains true, the current approach to achieving peace is flawed; imposing short-term security will not achieve long term stability. Realizing this, the United States ought to adopt a grand strategy that leverages interdependencies to facilitate collective action to foster stability and achieve elusive peace – network centrality.
The Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society (IUS) is a forum for the interchange and assessment of research and scholarship in the social and behavioral sciences dealing with the military establishment and civil-military relations. The Fellows who make up the IUS include academics, military officers, researchers, and students representing a variety of private and public institutions and various academic disciplines.
The IUS is based on the premise that research on military institutions is best conducted across university, organizational, disciplinary, theoretical, and national lines. The Fellows of the IUS differ widely in their strategic and political outlooks, but they share the common view that objective research on military organizations is a worthy endeavor. They believe that such research makes an invaluable contribution to citizen understanding of armed forces.
Headquartered at Loyola University Chicago, the IUS has Fellows in over 35 countries. The IUS publishes the leading journal in military-related research, Armed Forces & Society, a subscription to which is included as part of an IUS Fellowship. The IUS maintains contact with its diverse membership through its Biennial International Conferences, email notices, and periodic updates to this site.
Pathfinder 
Posted on October 30, 2012