The authors examine the utility of the U.S. Government's whole-of-government (WoG) approach for responding to the challenging security demands of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. They specifically discuss the strategic objectives of interagency cooperation particularly in the areas of peacebuilding and conflict management. Discussions range from the conceptual to the practical, with a focus on the challenges and desirability of interagency cooperation in international interventions. The book shares experiences and expertise on the need for and the future of an American grand strategy in an era characterized by increasingly complex security challenges and shrinking budgets. All authors agree that taking the status quo for granted is a major obstacle to developing a successful grand strategy and that government, military, international and nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector are all called upon to contribute their best talents and efforts to joint global peace and security activities. Included are viewpoints from academia, the military, government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and industry. Despite the broad range of viewpoints, a number of overarching themes and tentative agreements emerged.

Intended to facilitate dialogue between academic experts, military leaders, policymakers, and civilian practitioners, this edited volume provides a state of the art analysis of current whole of government (WoG) approaches and their effectiveness for coordinating stabilization and peacebuilding efforts. It explores the question: Can "smart power"-using the right tool for each operational context-successfully shift the burden of stability operations to civilian actors and enable the timely scaling-down of military deployments?

On February 25, 2011, Kennesaw State University (KSU) and the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) of the U.S. Army War College, conducted a symposium entitled "Conflict Management: A Tool for U.S. National Security Strategy." This symposium was the first collaboration between KSU and SSI, and it was conducted in the inaugural year of KSU's new Ph.D. program in International Conflict Management (INCM). In addition to the focus on conflict management, the symposium was designed to examine one of the ongoing research interests in the SSI academic engagement series, the role of "whole of government" (WoG) efforts in addressing contemporary national and international security challenges and opportunities. Three symposium panels addressed the following topics: "Responding to New Foreign Policy and National Security Threats," "WoG Prospects and Challenges," and "WoG Lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan." The symposium discussions ranged from the conceptual to the practical, with a focus on the challenges and desirability of interagency cooperation in international interventions. Invited panelists shared their experiences and expertise on the question of WoG and the impact of fragile and failing states on national security concerns. The panelists engaged the audience in a discussion that included viewpoints from academia, the military, government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and industry. Despite the broad range of viewpoints, a number of overarching themes and tentative agreements emerged. The reader will find them in the chapters of this edited volume.