Achieving Follow-Through: The Role of American Grand Strategy in the Transition from Conflict to Peace

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This paper argues that the President can better achieve strategic follow-through in the transition from conflict to peace by crafting grand strategy for that event. Such a strategy should serve as a unifying mechanism through which the President exercises strategic leadership over the vast number of often loosely affiliated organizations involved in such operations. This study makes its case by first identifying the many advantages afforded by a transition grand strategy, while also including some realistic constraints that limit the ideal. Next, it compares two case studies that bracket the conflict spectrum as a way of examining transition grand strategy in action. Both cases exhibit a surprising degree of similarity both in terms of what worked and what failed. This study concludes with a recommended three-tracked approach to transition grand strategy that involves communication of presidential intent, an accountable and flexible interagency process, and regular evaluation of the integrated strategy.