The Sovereignty Solution: A Common Sense Approach to Global Security

The Sovereignty Solution is not an Establishment national security strategy. Instead, it describes what the U.S. could actually do to restore order to the world without having to engage in either global policing or nation-building. Right now there is no coherent plan that addresses questions like: If terrorists were to strike Chicago tomorrow, what would we do? When Chicago is burning, whom would we target? How would we respond? There is nothing in place and no strategy on the horizon to either reassure the American public or warn the world: attack us, and this is what you can expect. We've also never had a plan that says: respect our sovereignty and we'll respect yours. There are two tracks to the strategy presented in this book: strengthening state responsibility abroad, and strengthening the social fabric here at home. Because no one considers the state of our social fabric in light of our foreign policy, or our foreign policy in light of what we might all agree America should stand for, this book is unique. Our goal? To provoke a serious national security debate that addresses and then redresses the gaps and disconnects between what the U.S. says, what the U.S. does, how the U.S. wants to be perceived, and how the U.S. actually is perceived. We offer a radically commonsensical way to recalibrate global security by getting countries to self-police.

Anna Simons is a Professor of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School. She previously taught anthropology at UCLA. She graduated from Harvard College and earned her PhD in social anthropology from Harvard University. She is the author of Networks of Dissolution: Somalia Undone and The Company They Keep: Life Inside the U.S. Army Special Forces. Joe McGraw is an active-duty Special Forces Officer with over 16 years in the US Army. He is married to LTC Leigh McGraw and father of three small children. He has served in combat with his Special Forces A-Team and his Special Forces Company and has spent over 10 years with US Army Special Forces. Duane Lauchengco: The busy life of a Special Forces Officer in today’s Army parallels the equally busy life of a father with a bristling brood of four children and a very understanding wife. At home in a Cub Scout meeting, watching kids’ soccer, or treading water, Duane contentedly enjoys North Carolina living