Strategic Analysis in Support of International Policy Making

Strategic Analysis in Support of International Policy Making PDF

Author: Thomas Juneau

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2017-02-02

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 1442257636

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The book aims to improve our understanding of what it means to create high-quality analytical products by focusing on the concept of relevance for policy-makers. Despite variations in context, strategic analysts in different sectors (in both intelligence and non-intelligence government organizations, private consultancies, think tanks, and academia) face similar problems in identifying the needs of their clients and setting up organizations with the mandates, structures, and personnel necessary to address those needs. The objective is therefore to identify these common challenges, compare solutions, and share lessons learned. To do so, broader thematic reflections on strategic analysis are combined with innovative case studies of how organizations have worked to successfully produce relevant analysis. The first section explores challenges to achieving relevance at the level of the analyst, while the remainder of the book analyses cases at the level of organizations.

Strategic Analysis

Strategic Analysis PDF

Author: Andrea Beretta Zanoni

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2011-08-25

Total Pages: 143

ISBN-13: 113663004X

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In the last few years, competition has become increasingly more complex, variable and dynamic, as can be seen in phenomena like globalization and technological acceleration. To cope with the dynamism and uncertainty of competition, enterprises need capabilities that enable them to respond to competition, as well as to improve their analytical skills and knowledge in order to better manage new strategic projects. Strategic analysis uses both quantitative and qualitative tools to understand both competitive contexts and available company resources. In Strategic Analysis: Processes and Tools, author Andrea Beretta Zanoni develops a theory of strategic analysis and offers models for the application of strategic analysis tools during all phases of the process including planning and decision-making, the development of control, and the formulation of a strategic diagnosis.

Intelligence Analysis and Policy Making

Intelligence Analysis and Policy Making PDF

Author: Thomas Juneau

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2021-12-07

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1503629716

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Canada is a key member of the world's most important international intelligence-sharing partnership, the Five Eyes, along with the US, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia. Until now, few scholars have looked beyond the US to study how effectively intelligence analysts support policy makers, who rely on timely, forward-thinking insights to shape high-level foreign, national security, and defense policy. Intelligence Analysis and Policy Making provides the first in-depth look at the relationship between intelligence and policy in Canada. Thomas Juneau and Stephanie Carvin, both former analysts in the Canadian national security sector, conducted seventy in-depth interviews with serving and retired policy and intelligence practitioners, at a time when Canada's intelligence community underwent sweeping institutional changes. Juneau and Carvin provide critical recommendations for improving intelligence performance in supporting policy—with implications for other countries that, like Canada, are not superpowers but small or mid-sized countries in need of intelligence that supports their unique interests.

Defence Planning for Small and Middle Powers

Defence Planning for Small and Middle Powers PDF

Author: Tim Sweijs

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-08-01

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 1040098584

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This book examines the processes, practices and principles of defence planning in small and middle powers. Small and middle powers are recalibrating their force postures in this age of disruption. They are adapting their defence planning and military innovation processes to protect the security of their nations. The purpose of this book is to explore defence planning and military innovation in 11 contemporary case studies of small and middle powers in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania. Employing a structured focused comparison framework, it traces patterns in the choices of small and middle powers across the following themes: (1) alliances, dependencies and national ambitions; (2) approaches, processes, methods and techniques; and (3) military innovation strategies and outcomes. Breaking new theoretical ground, it offers a three-pronged typology distinguishing between the strategic defence planner, the transactional defence planners and the complacent defence planner. The book offers a rich array of insights into cases that fall across different geographies, strategic cultures and governance systems. These insights can help guide discussions on how to structure decision-making structures, arrive at ambition levels, formulate priorities, select partners and design defence planning and military innovation processes. This book will be of much interest to students of defence studies, security studies, public policy and international relations, as well as to professionals in defence planning.

Decision Support Tools for Strategic Policy Analysis

Decision Support Tools for Strategic Policy Analysis PDF

Author: Xin Su

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 82

ISBN-13:

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New or improved decision analysis tools are developed in this thesis to address strategic policy analysis with specific focus on two topics: strategic conflict analysis and region-performance comparisons. A strategic conflict refers to a situation in which two or more decision makers (DMs) are to make a decision that affects issues over which they have different preferences. Various forms of strategic conflict exist all around us, in areas such as environmental management, international relations, economic competition, and relationships among individuals. The graph model for conflict resolution (GMCR) is an advanced and comprehensive tool to systematically study strategic conflicts. A well-known decision tool, the analytic network process (ANP) is adapted for use in strategic conflict analysis and a comparison of the performance of ANP with GMCR is carried out. Both methods are applied to an international trading conflict between the United States and China over the importation of television sets into the US in order to gain strategic insights about this dispute using the two different but complementary approaches. A country's overall performance comparison with respect to different kinds of indices such as economic, environmental and political indices constitutes another interesting topic for strategic policy analysis. An index aggregation approach is proposed to compare BRICSAM countries, a populous rapidly-growing economic group of nations consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations), and Mexico with G7 (Group of Seven), the most developed country club including Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States. A data-envelopment-analysis (DEA) based approach is proposed to aggregate different ranking indices for BRICSAM and the G7 countries. The proposed method can provide a fair overall assessment of a country's standing by maximizing its possibility of obtaining the best evaluation score. Finally, a framework to carry out generic strategic analysis for regions' competence analysis is designed based upon the theory of generic strategic analysis proposed by Porter (1980). This is a well-known approach for use in business competence analysis. The basic idea is to carry out generic strategic analysis in policy studies and two decision tools, DEA and the analytic hierarchy process, are employed to quantify the analysis of competence efficiency and potentiality, respectively. A case study of the competence analysis of provinces in China is used to demonstrate the analysis procedure.

Routledge Handbook of International Relations in the Middle East

Routledge Handbook of International Relations in the Middle East PDF

Author: Shahram Akbarzadeh

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-03-26

Total Pages: 438

ISBN-13: 1351859528

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This handbook examines the regional and international dynamics of the Middle East. It challenges the state society dichotomy to make sense of decision-making and behavior by ruling regimes. The 33 chapter authors include the world’s leading scholars of the Middle East and International Relations (IR) in order to make sense of the region. This synthesis of area studies expertise and IR theory provides a unique and rigorous account of the region’s current dynamics, which have reached a crisis point since the beginning of the Arab Spring. The Middle East has been characterized by volatility for more than a century. Although the region attracts significant scholarly interest, IR theory has rarely been used as a tool to understand events. The constructivist approach in IR highlights the significance of state identity, shaped by history and culture, in making sense of international relations. The authors of this volume consider how IR theory can elucidate the patterns and principles that shape the region, in order to provide a rigorous account of the contemporary challenges of the Middle East. The Routledge Handbook of International Relations in the Middle East provides comprehensive coverage of International Relations issues in the region. Thus, it offers key resources for researchers and students interested in International Relations and the Middle East.

Strategic Decision Making

Strategic Decision Making PDF

Author: Navneet Bhushan

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-05-28

Total Pages: 175

ISBN-13: 1852338644

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Strategic Decision Making provides an effective, formal methodology that provides help with decision making problems, especially strategic ones with high stakes involving human perceptions and judgements. Focusing on applying the AHP to decision-making problems, Strategic Decision Making covers problems in the realms of business, defence and governance. Using case studies drawn from years of experience, the book discusses decision making for real life problems and includes many worked examples and solutions to problems throughout. The reader will gain comprehensive exposure to the extent of assistance that a formal methodology, such as AHP, can provide to the decision maker in evolving decisions in complex and varied domains.

Middle Power in the Middle East

Middle Power in the Middle East PDF

Author: Thomas Juneau

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2022-03-01

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 1487528477

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The Middle East has not, historically, been a first-order priority for Canadian foreign and defence policy. Most major Canadian decisions on the Middle East have come about through ad hoc decision-making rather than strategic necessity. Balancing international obligations with domestic goals, Canadian relations with this region try to find a balance between meeting alliance obligations and keeping domestic constituents content. Middle Power in the Middle East delves into some of Canada’s key bilateral relations with the Middle East and explores the main themes in Canada’s regional presence: arms sales, human rights, defence capacity-building, and mediation. Contributors analyse the key drivers of Canada’s foreign and defence policies in the Middle East, including diplomatic relations with the United States, ideology, and domestic politics. Bringing together many of Canada’s foremost experts on Canada–Middle East relations, this collection provides a fresh perspective that is particularly timely and important following the Arab uprisings.