Social Work Policy Institute

(1988). Institutions: Environmental Policy Institute. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development: Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 3-5.

The military bureaucracy today is a highly complex and differentiated structure whose interplay of institutional and interpersonal politics produces an "organized anarchy.” Its anarchical character is reinforced by ambiguities in the international environment and defense policy priorities; the misdirection of problems and misuse of participants within the bureaucracy; the misloading and overloading of the system with information and demands; incompletely understood intrabureaucratic processes; and a combination of selectivity and inattention in the entire decision-making process. The combined effect inhibits efficiency and responsiveness and greatly increases the likelihood of failure. Examples include the flawed linkage between doctrine and force posture, a mismanaged all-volunteer force, the abortive Eagle Claw rescue attempt in Iran, and the chaotic structure known as the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force. Reform is possible, but the political obstacles to be overcome are formidable.