In this and the following four posts, I will examine the national Instruments of Power.
While there is a lot more to them, I’ll specifically cover the four represented in the DIME acronym: Diplomacy, Information, Military, and Economy.
While my intended audience is ‘Aspiring Leaders’ in general, this series of posts may speak much more to those whose professions fall under the governmental umbrella. Even so, I suspect there will be nuggets of value within this post for readers in the private sector.
Heck, even personal relationships are likely to benefit from considering the concepts discussed ahead.
Anyway, this post serves as an overall series introduction.
What is this guy talking about this month?
The following are the questions I seek to answer throughout this series.
What are the Instruments of Power?
How does America utilize the Instruments of Power?
Why should any of us care?
Why’s he talking about this?
Feel free to skip to the next bolded section if you don’t care about why I chose these topics for these four months.
With every new year, there’s an at least momentary urge to make (usually intended as beneficial) changes in our lives. I personally want to expand my potential as a military officer, which led me to reading a bit more about more strategic perspectives. That, in turn, led me to reexamining content from Squadron Officer School, which included the Instruments of Power.
While you read what I hope is summarized content ahead, from my perspective, it’s more of a self-assigned homework task intent on making me a better officer.
As I write this introductory section, I have not yet dived into the material, but it’s my intent to make that minimally apparent throughout the rest of this article.
Disclaimer
This seems as good a point as any for a disclaimer to remind readers that any of the content found in this post is simply my opinion or interpretation, or it is information I found and referenced. Moreover, none of the content here is meant to be presented as a position held by the Air Force nor Department of Defense, nor anyone else, unless specified in their own referenced material.
What are the National Instruments of Power?
Simply, as a collective, the Instruments of Power are the resources – think “toolbox” – that a nation has to pursue national objectives.[1]
Maybe an attempt at explaining instruments of power to a five year old would sound something like this:
If you want an apple, you have a few options to acquire one.
You could communicate an agreement with someone that includes your receipt of an apple. (Diplomacy)
You could learn how to grow an apple for yourself. (Information)
You could fight/ attack/ viably threaten someone for their apple. (Or perhaps you need to defend your own growing apples from someone else?) (Military) (…and maybe “viably threaten” isn’t the best phrasing to discuss with a five year old, but hey…)
You could trade something for someone else’s apple. (Economy)
How does America utilize the Instruments of Power?
More specific information will be provided in each respective post, but for now: An overview.
Generally, American Diplomacy is executed via the Department of State.
The mission of the US Department of State is to “To protect and promote U.S. security, prosperity, and democratic values and shape an international environment in which all Americans can thrive.”[2]
According to the Joint Doctrine Note 1-18, Strategy[3], Diplomacy involves dealing peacefully with other entities (usually, but not always[?] other nation-states) amidst conflict.
Responsibility for American Information is not exclusively housed in any single US Department. Strategy does not list any particular entities, rather merely mentioning “the intelligence community.”
According to Strategy, Information is about “creating, exploiting, and disrupting knowledge.”
The American Military is housed in the Department of Defense.
The mission of the US Department of Defense is “to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation’s security.”[4]
According to Strategy, the purpose of the Military involves active, threat of, or enabling others’ use of force to impose the actor’s will upon others.
The American Economy is primarily the responsibility of the Department of Commerce.
The mission of the US Department of Commerce is “to create the conditions for economic growth and opportunity for all communities.”[5]
Strategy states that the focus of the Economy instrument is “furthering or constraining others’ prosperity.”
Why should any of us care?
And when I ask “any of us” I do include potential readers outside of my more intended audience.
The simple reason presented up front: The national way of business still builds on fundamentals that individuals at local and personal interactions can benefit from, especially if they recognize their higher-stakes utility.
As a sort of preview to February’s Diplomacy post, part of examining diplomacy will look into some practical skills and knowledge that facilitate influence via diplomacy.
First and absolutely foremost: Communication, which includes Listening.
Second, and really, this builds from Communication: Empathy.
Third: Historical Review (i.e. a relationship with Information)
For now, the simple explanation of why these are skills worth examining is because they enable Diplomacy.
Interacting with another nation (or more locally, a community member or partner) requires engaging with and listening to them, understanding their problem from their perspective, and a willingness to examine their history, which amplifies your ability to understand the other’s perspective that much more intently.
To bring home the “Why any of us should care” piece: Looking at those high-level, seemingly disconnected but clearly ‘very big’ national features of the instruments of power can help anyone get a starting grip on the criticality of such skills at the lower, more intimate, more personal level.
Conclusion
I look forward to kicking off this four-month discussion with Diplomacy soon.
I hope you look forward to reading about it all!
And I hope that while I learn about these instruments of power and share what I learn with you, we can all be better leaders or community members along the way.
Keep an eye out for the next drop!
References:
[1] “The Instruments of National Power” n.d. The Lightning Press. https://www.thelightningpress.com/the-instruments-of-national-power/
[2] United States Department of State – About. https://www.state.gov/about/
[3] Joint Doctrine Note 1-18, Strategy. https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/Doctrine/jdn_jg/jdn1_18.pdf
[4] US Department of Defense – About. https://www.defense.gov/About/
[5] US Department of Commerce – About. https://www.commerce.gov/about
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