GRIPS: A Framework for Coherent Power
“To truly come to GRIPS with national power, we must mind the gaps—between capabilities, across institutions, and across allied geographies—before our rivals do.”
- In an era of systemic competition, national strength depends not just on accumulating power—but on aligning it. That’s the purpose of GRIPS: a modern framework developed by Mark R. Kennedy to identify, coordinate, and elevate the core capabilities that determine national advantage.
- GRIPS defines five interdependent pillars of power. Each is essential. None is sufficient on its own.
🟦 Governance: Inspiring Trust in Institutions and Purpose
- Strong governance enables a nation to act with unity, legitimacy, and foresight. It encompasses:
- Institutional competence and public integrity
- Rule of law, democratic resilience, and fiscal discipline
- Confidence in science, civil society, and civic norms
- Governance shapes how citizens engage, how the world perceives, and how crises are managed. Without it, no other pillar can be fully realized.
🟩 Resilience: Withstanding Economic, Energy, and Systemic Shocks
Resilience is the ability to absorb disruptions and adapt under pressure. It includes:
- Supply chain security and redundancy
- Energy independence and resource flexibility
- Financial agility and policy responsiveness
Resilience blunts the tools of coercion, sustains deterrence, and preserves freedom of action. It is the bedrock of national autonomy.
🟨 Innovation: Driving Technological and Strategic Advantage
Innovation fuels the engines of national power—from economic growth to military capability. It includes:
- Leadership in semiconductors, AI, biotech, and clean tech
- Research ecosystems and talent pipelines
- Public-private coordination in emerging technologies
Without innovation, nations fall behind in shaping the rules, tools, and terrain of tomorrow.
🟪 Perception: Earning Legitimacy and Shaping the Narrative
Power is partly perceptual. The world’s beliefs about a nation—its intent, values, and credibility—affect everything from market access to alliance durability. Perception involves:
- Public diplomacy and global media narratives
- Strategic messaging and soft power
- Visible alignment between ideals and action
Without perception, even superior capabilities may fail to inspire trust or deter aggression.
🟥 Security: Deterring Aggression and Shaping Outcomes
Security is the bedrock of strategic credibility. It is not just military strength, but how force is integrated with diplomacy and economic statecraft. It includes:
- Defense modernization and readiness
- Integrated deterrence with allies
- Strategic investments in industrial base and infrastructure
Security must evolve with the threat environment—and reinforce rather than isolate other pillars.
Why GRIPS Matters: Coming to GRIPS Means Minding the Gaps
- GRIPS is not a checklist—it’s a systems lens. Each pillar is linked to the others through complex dependencies and feedback loops.
- Innovation without resilience is fragile. Security without perception is unsustainable. Governance without trust erodes every other effort.
- To come to GRIPS with national power is to grasp these dynamics.
- To mind the gap is to:
- Identify disconnects between pillars
- Detect misalignments between institutions
- Coordinate across allied geographies and policy domains
- GRIPS sets the agenda. PIVOT reveals the posture.
- Together, they provide a 360° strategy for a contested world.
Power today is not additive—it is integrative. GRIPS reveals the fractures that weaken strategy—and the synergies that make it endure.
From the Frontiers of Freedom Blog
Seeing Clearly in a Contested World
- How GRIPS and PIVOT offer a 360° lens for national and institutional strategy