Evolving US Grand Strategy: How Administrations Have Approached the National Security Strategy Report

This study assesses how different US Presidential administrations have approached the national security strategy report. It focuses on the elements of continuity and the elements of change between selected national security strategy reports from the four administrations required to submit this report to Congress using selected reports from 1988, 1991, 1996, and 2002. Then these four selected strategies are analyzed exploring for elements of continuity and elements of change. The criteria for comparison will be requirements of the report required by the 1986 Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act and the traditional US foreign policy schools. The thesis concludes that the national interests of the US remain relatively constant; however, different administrations have contrasting objectives and approaches to reach those objectives.