Gen. Martin E. Dempsey has been nominated by President Obama to be the next Joint Chiefs of Staff. In addition to this announcement, President Obama also announced that broad reshuffles will be done within his national security team, with the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in view. Reports noted that President Obama is not giving any hints on whether he supports troop pullouts or not. He only mentioned that “he expected General Dempsey, now the Army chief, to present him with a full range of options on how to begin bringing American troops home.”1 How effective the reshaping of the national security team will be in changing government’s strategy is yet to be seen. But it seems like the process of changing gears and changing strategies has begun in Washington.

• 1. “Obama Wraps Up Reshaping of National Security Team”, The New York Times, May 30, 2011 at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/us/politics/31military.html