Seapower Magazine cites a new Atlantic Council report, All Elements of National Power: Moving Toward a New Interagency Balance for US Global Engagement:
A panel of former high-level military officers and diplomats are urging substantial changes in the organization and function of the geographic combatant commands to allow much greater involvement by the State Department, concluding that the current structure and performance of the war-fighting commands “are increasingly relics of a bygone era.”
In a report released July 22 by the Atlantic Council, the panel said the inclusion of senior State Department officials into the headquarters of the six regional combatant commands was necessary to provide “whole-of-government” approaches to the complex national security challenges facing the nation.
The panel was led by retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, a former commandant and commander of the U.S. European Command, and included four other retired flag and general officers, plus veteran diplomats and foreign affairs scholars.