One example of how interagency competition within the U.S. government influenced grand strategy decisions during the Cold War is the rivalry between the Air Force and the Army over strategic approaches, driven by their competing interests in securing larger portions of the defense budget. This competition led to differing strategic preferences, with each service advocating for strategies that would justify and expand their respective roles and funding within U.S. defense policy
. More broadly, interagency competition shaped Cold War strategy through the evolving roles of agencies like the CIA, which gained expanded covert and clandestine powers to conduct paramilitary and intelligence operations with less oversight, reflecting a strategic preference for flexible, deniable actions. This shift was motivated by the desire to reduce bureaucratic friction and public scrutiny, allowing presidential administrations to pursue anti-communist objectives more effectively. However, this compartmentalization also created challenges in coordination and control across agencies
. Additionally, during the Eisenhower administration, interagency debates were institutionalized in processes like Project Solarium, where different teams representing varying strategic visions-including military buildup, containment, and more aggressive measures-were formed to advise the president. This reflected how interagency competition and collaboration shaped the formulation of a coherent national security strategy
. Thus, interagency competition influenced U.S. grand strategy by shaping the allocation of resources, the choice of strategic instruments (e.g., overt military force vs. covert action), and the processes through which strategic decisions were debated and consolidated.
