Tomahawk Diplomacy and US National Security.

Abstract

Abstract : The modern term, creeping into the American lexicon, Tomahawk Diplomacy has come to represent a form of limited military response where the National Command Authority (NCA) employs cruise missiles and other high technology weapons as a means of enforcing American foreign policy and protecting U.S. security. Although this form of response normally includes an array of precision weapons and delivery systems, cruise missiles have become a most visible and highly publicized form of limited military response. The NCA relies heavily on cruise missiles as a strategic asset. So predominant are these weapons that cruise missiles are specifically mentioned in both the National Security Strategy and National Military Strategy as an integral part of nearly every military response contingency. The U.S. is employing these weapons with increasing regularity and is expected to continue to rely on this form of response in the future. This monograph explores the implications of employing cruise missiles as a means of limited military response in the pursuit of U.S. national security objectives or imposition of U.S. foreign policy. This monograph uses the three most recent U.S. use of cruise missiles as case studies and analyzes them against a defined set of criteria in order to identify the strategic implications of their use. This research uses the instruments of national power as criteria to develop a framework for analysis. Publications from various academic and media sources form the body of knowledge necessary to develop a coherent balance of arguments for and against the use of cruise missile diplomacy. The intent of this monograph is to determine if the use of cruise missiles is restricting limited military response options to operational planners, and provides a framework for identifying and understanding strategic implications.