Obama Overhauls the NSC

President Barack Obama has taken yet another step away from the policies of President Bush by vastly expanding the National Security Council to include the attorney general, the secretary of homeland security, the secretary of energy, and the ambassador to the United Nations.  The expansion fits into Obama’s promise to include economic, energy, and climate issues in national security policy decisions.

Obama also changed the format of National Security Directives, creating two separate systems of directives.  According to the Washington Post, the two categories are “presidential policy directives, and presidential study directives, designed to initiate and direct policy reviews.”  Obama’s first study directive will look at how to reorganize homeland security and counterterrorism institutions.

Obama’s decision to incorporate more industry representation into the NSC is similar to Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair’s testimony that the economy is the number one security threat to America.  It also kicks off another debate on what the true purpose of the NSC should be, as every president since 1947 when the NSC was established has had different ideas on who it should include and what its mission should be.  By creating the largest and most inclusive NSC to date, though, is Obama perhaps creating an institution where so much is discussed and analyzed that it will be difficult to accomplish important tasks?

At the end of the day, the NSC must also ensure the very prominent personalities can not only work together, but know who sets the agenda and who has final authority. 

Secrecy News also provides good information on the new directives.