Secretary of State Marco Rubio should conduct the following real-world experiment. He should direct the Charge d’Affaires, a.i. at the U.S. Embassy to the Kingdom of Denmark, Jennifer Hall Godfrey, to take a radically different approach to strategic planning. Instead of a single mission strategic plan, he should order her to produce a multi-level set of strategic plans. Instead of taking a top-down approach, he should order her to take a bottom-up one. Should this experiment prove successful, then Secretary Rubio can order other U.S. diplomatic mission to independent states with overseas countries and territories to take the same course of action. Should those tests produce similar results, then Secretary Rubio will have discovered a new way to improve mission strategic planning for independent states with overseas countries and territories.
Danish Realm
The Kingdom of Denmark is unique among the member states of the European Union. Like all other member states, it is composed of a metropolitan region on the European continent (i.e. Denmark Proper). Like France and the Netherlands, it is also composed of an Overseas Country (i.e., Greenland). Unlike France and the Netherlands, it also composed of a Special Status Territory (i.e. Faroe Islands). These three autonomous regions are related to one another by way of the concept of Rigsfaellesskabet (i.e., Unity of the Realm). Under this status function, the power of sovereignty rests with the Kingdom of Denmark.
Integrated Country Strategy
Traditionally, the U.S. Embassy in Denmark has used a top-down approach to produce a mission strategic plan (i.e., Integrated Country Strategy for Denmark). This approach has its advantages. One is efficiency. It produces a single strategic plan at a single level of management. Another is clarity. It produces a compact set of priorities, goals, objectives, and action plans. However, there are disadvantages as well. One is that it is highly context-insensitive. It glosses over the many of the real-world differences that exist between Denmark Proper, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. Another is distance. It locates the strategic plan-making far away from U.S. foreign service officers who are responsible for implementing the strategic plan outside of Denmark Proper.
Integrated Realm Strategy
Now that there is a U.S. Consulate in Nuuk, the time has come for the U.S. Mission to Denmark to take a different approach to strategic planning. Instead of using a top-down approach to produce a single strategic plan, it should use a bottom-up approach to produce an integrated set of strategic plans. In the case of the Kingdom of Denmark, that should start with the production of separate lower-level strategic plans for Denmark Proper, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. Then, it should continue with the production of a higher-level strategic plan for the Kingdom of Denmark. This can be achieved by way of integration and synthesis. The final result would be an Integrated Realm Strategy.
Strategic Planning Teams
To maximize context sensitivity, Acting Ambassador Godfrey should consider establishing three separate strategic planning teams. Two would be based at the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen. They would be responsible for the lower-level strategic plans for Denmark Proper and the Faroe Islands, respectively. Another would be based at the U.S. Consulate in Nuuk. It would be responsible for the lower-level strategic plans for Greenland. The Senior Leadership Team would not only be responsible for reviewing and approving the lower-level strategic plans for Denmark Proper, Greenland, and Faroe Islands. It would be responsible for producing the higher-level strategic plan for the Kingdom of Denmark on top of them. That would be achieved through the integration and synthesis.
Beyond the Kingdom
In this way, Secretary Rubio could use the U.S. Mission to Denmark as a test case for a new approach to mission strategic planning (i.e., integrated realm strategic planning). If this new approach proves to be successful, then Secretary Rubio could direct the U.S. Embassies in France and the Netherlands to take a similar approach. If that proves successful, then he could direct the U.S. Embassy in the United Kingdom to do the same. In this way, Secretary Rubio could incrementally reform and modernize strategic planning for independent states with overseas countries and territories.
