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National Security Strategy 1990

Title: National Security Strategy of the United States

Published: Mar. 1, 1990

Administration: George H. W. Bush

Download: PDF

Summary: The 1990 report began its life as the 1989 report. Because the Bush administration began its tenure with a detailed interagency review of the national security strategy. This review, combined with the inherent difficulties of determining the strategy of a new administration, resulted in the delay of the 1989 report until early fall. However, the evolving events in Eastern Europe made several sections of the report obsolete even before it was published. This resulted in the report being published more than a year late. (Snider, 7-8).

In attempting to deal with the realities of the changes in Eastern Europe while those changes were still evolving, the report cut a cautious path. However, the document was described as “schizophrenic,” with its response prescriptions not fitting its own description of the strategic environment. This stands as evidence, however, of the importance of the statutory requirement in forcing assessment of the changing strategic environment despite the difficulty or any political sensitivity. (Snider, 7-8).