Directed Reading
The economic community is a significant participant in the national security process. Its entities--the National Economic Council (NEC), the NSC, the Treasury Department, State, the Agency for International Development, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Department of Commerce, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the Council of Economic Advisors--are engaged in national security decision making at all levels, usually as participants in the interagency process. According to the Executive Order, the Secretary of the Treasury is designated as the senior economic official in the Executive Branch and the President's direct economic spokesperson. The Economic Community has frequently taken the lead in developing and implementing policy from trade issues, to sanctions, to foreign assistance.
Presidents have always had economic advisors, but the creation of the NEC in 1993 was an attempt to bring coherence to the economic aspects of the decision process. This was prompted in part by a globalising economy, the end of the Cold War, and the perceived need to give greater emphasis to international economic affairs at the senior levels of the Executive Branch, beyond that traditionally provided by the NSC.
Topic Objective
- To understand how the economic community participates in the national security process.
Questions for Consideration
- Has the creation of the NEC brought about the intended result of greater coordination among economic participants?
- Is the NEC needed in light of the role of Treasury, Commerce, and USTR in international economics, NSC in security matters, CEA in domestic issues, and OMB in policy oversight?
Required Readings
* The National Economic Council: A Work in Progress (Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics), pp. 5-8; 17-41. (Reprint)
* Executive Order 12835, Establishment of the National Economic Council, January 25, 1993. (Reprint)
* Presidential Decision Directive/NEC-2, March 24, 1993. (Reprint)
* Kenneth I. Juster and Simon Lazarus, Making Economic Policy: An Assessment of the National Economic Council (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1997), pp. xv-xxiv. (Reprint)
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