Summary:
This study examines the British experience of creating and implementing grand strategy in the first decades of the twentieth century. Specifically, it focuses on the work of a dedicated body—the Committee of Imperial Defence—which was designed to address the security challenges of a new century. Among the findings in this report are the inherent hindrances within British government and society to delivering a ‘revolutionary’ grand strategy, and the importance of an engaged and interested Prime Minister who can help to steer the new strategy through a number of bureaucratic layers. As the study highlights, strategy is essential to improve coordination between instruments of state power, but when there is a lack of interest and engagement from senior leadership, the implementation process becomes muddled and inefficient.
