What Does It Mean To Think Strategically?

Aaron Bazin, RCD: Eight Good Questions Strategic Thinkers Should Ask

Strategic thinking can happen almost anywhere: in a conference room, a university lecture hall, or in the dark basement of a military headquarters. If you think about it, really anyone can do it, from a president to an Army private, from a subject matter expert to an armchair general. Although anyone can do it at any time and in any place, doing it well is neither easy nor is it commonplace.

A variety of research projects have sought to uncover what it means to think strategically in the military context. In general, strategic thinkers act primarily in one of four roles: leader, advisor, practitioner, or planner. To function effectively in these roles require the skills of information gathering, learning, critical thinking, creative thinking, thinking in time, and systems thinking. Building upon these ideas, the purpose of this article is to explore some of the timeless questions that strategic thinkers can ask to help themselves and others think clearly about issues of strategic significance.

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WNU Editor: This has always been my pet peeve with the U.S. for as long as I can remember. U.S. leaders never think strategically .... their focus has always been political and the short term. This is why countries like Russia, China, etc. have been so effective in the past few years in undermining U.S. policy in regions like the Middle East and in Asia .... and using very little resources and political capital to accomplish it. Russia (and China) are thinking strategically, and are timing their interventions at the best possible time. Case in point .... Russia and the Middle East. After spending trillions of dollars and losing countless of lives, the U.S. is now being replaced by Putin as the man to go to for countries in the Middle East who are looking for strategic partners and relationships .... even though the only thing that Russia's Putin has done is deploy a few thousand soldiers and a few dozen planes to Syria in the past year. How is this possible? The explanation why is simple .... as I outlined in these two previous posts:

When It Comes To The Middle East All Roads Now Lead to Moscow (September 26, 2015)
Why All Roads In The Middle East Now Lead To Moscow - Updated (May 18, 2016)