If President-elect Barack Obama follows the pattern of most of his modern predecessors, one of the first documents to bear his signature after he takes office will be a directive laying out his administration's national security structure. Bill Clinton signed one his first day in office; George W. Bush during his first month. The directive traditionally lays out the membership of the National Security Council, determining who has a seat at the table where the highest-level defense and foreign policy decisions are made. Most important, it determines the individual ... (more)