Identifying One’s Concerns.

Once the facts of the situation have been detailed, then one should clearly define just what it is that is of concern. What is it that is causing that uneasy state of blended interests, uncertainty, and apprehension? What is it that disturbs or creates angst? Here the trained strategist is disciplined to avoid simply restating the facts, for example, country X has invaded country Y, but rather why should we care? Why should we be concerned? He or she also avoids exaggerating the dangers. Exaggeration of the potential dangers, more often than not, impedes rather than advances the prospects for the emergence of effective strategies, as fear conquers rationality.
Furthermore, the trained strategist will consider not just immediate concerns that emanate directly from the existing problem, but also broader, short-, medium-, and long-term concerns that might be the product of the nonresolution of the current problem. Thus the mind must be trained to wander beyond the confines of the existing issue and the immediate parties to the broader arena of issues among a wider range of parties and interests that might be affected. For example, the testing by North Korea of missiles capable of putting a satellite in orbit, when coupled with their continued development and acquisition of nuclear weapons, not only raises concerns about stability on the Korean peninsula, but also a wide variety of concerns ranging from the future of stability, arms races, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons in Asia to the future dangers such developments might pose for America’s security.