Integrating Civilian Agencies In Stability Operations

In a project entitled "Integrating the Interagency in Planning for Army Stability Operations," RAND Arroyo Center examined the question of how the Army can help make key civilian agencies more capable partners in the planning and execution of stability, security, transition, and reconstruction (SSTR) operations. The authors identify the primary and secondary civilian agencies that should be involved in strategic-level planning and implementation of SSTR operations. Then, relying on available information on Provincial Reconstruction Teams and using a variety of federal databases, the authors identify the skill sets needed for the envisioned Field Advance Civilian Teams and where these skills reside in the federal government. The authors then assess the capacity of the main civilian agencies to participate in SSTR operations and analyze the recurring structural problems that have plagued their attempts to do so. The authors suggest a series of options that are worth considering in order to improve the current situation. Even without much action at the national level, the Army can still improve the situation by improving Army Civil Affairs and by executing a well-thought-out strategy of liaison officers assigned to the civilian agencies most important for SSTR operations.

In the aftermath of the U.S.-led ousters of the Taliban and Ba'athist regimes, and as part of the U.S. strategy to deal with transnational terrorist groups, there has been a great deal of activity focused on revising the way that the United States plans and conducts Stabilization, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction (SSTR) operations. The primary emphasis of the changes has been to ensure a common U.S. strategy rather than a collection of individual departmental and agency efforts and to mobilize and involve all available U.S. government assets in a SSTR operation. The use of the term SSTR to describe these types of operations is important in comprehending fully the scope of the effort. SSTR operations are civilian-led and conducted and coordinated with the involvement of all the available resources of the U.S. government (military and civilian), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and international partners. While military assets are an essential component of many SSTR operations, specific military goals and objectives are only a portion of the larger SSTR operation. The following set of definitions, taken from the Military Support to Stabilization, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction Operations Joint Operating Concept,1 provides an explanation of the term.

In 2004-2006, the U.S. government acted to revise the way that the planning and implementation of Stabilization, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction (SSTR) operations are conducted. The primary emphasis of the changes was on ensuring a common U.S. strategy rather than a collection of individual departmental and agency efforts and on mobilizing and involving all available U.S. government assets in the effort. The proximate reason for the policy shift stems from the exposing of gaps in the U.S. ability to administer Afghanistan and Iraq after the U.S.-led ousters of the Taliban and Ba'athist regimes. But the effort to create U.S. government capabilities to conduct SSTR operations in a more unified and coherent fashion rests on the deeper conviction that, as part of the U.S. strategy to deal with transnational terrorist groups, the United States must have the capabilities to increase the governance capacities of weak states, reduce the drivers of and catalysts to conflict, and assist in peacebuilding at all stages of pre- or post-conflict transformation. According to the Joint Operating Concept for Military Support to SSTR operations, these operations are civilian-led and conducted and coordinated with the involvement of all the available resources of the U.S. government (military and civilian), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and international partners. Although military assets are an essential component of many SSTR operations, specific military goals and objectives are only a portion of the larger SSTR operation.

For decades since the formation of the defense establishment under the 1947 National Security Act, all U.S. cabinet departments, national security agencies, and military services involved in providing for the common defense have struggled to overcome differences in policy and strategy formulation, organizational cultures, and even basic terminology. Post-September 11, 2001, international systems, security environments, U.S. military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the greater Global War on Terrorism have confronted civilian policymakers and senior military officers with a complex, fluid battlefield which demands kinetic and counterinsurgency capabilities. This monograph addresses the security, stability, transition, and reconstruction missions that place the most pressure on interagency communication and coordination. The results from Kabul to Baghdad reveal that the interagency process is in need of reform and that a more robust effort to integrate and align civilian and military elements is a prerequisite for success.

U.S. experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan have demonstrated that improving U.S. capacity for stabilization and reconstruction operations is critical to national security. To help craft a way ahead, the authors provide an overview of the requirements posed by stabilization and reconstruction operations and recommend ways to improve U.S. capacity to meet these needs.

This book contains unique, firsthand experiences of both the military and civilian actors involved in civil-military interaction processes. It presents lessons learned from a variety of situations, from both NATO-led operations and UN Integrated Missions, and in different geographical areas, such as the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa. Rather than taking the improvisational approach, these lessons learned will enable military commanders and staff and their civilian counterparts in governments, International Organisations and NGOs to come fully prepared for the challenges of today's multifaceted missions. With a better understanding of the mandates and methods of the various civilian and military actors comes greater respect for each other's comparative advantages. With respect comes smoother cooperation. And with that, efficiency gains and enhanced overall mission effectiveness. Each chapter contains solid analysis and advice, specific to the functions found in military organizations, from Intelligence to Personnel and from Logistics to Engineering. Cross-cutting themes like Gender, Human Rights and Corruption are also included in this work that brings together some of the best that practitioners and academics can offer.

Claude Chabrol's second film follows the fortunes of two cousins: Charles, a hard-working student who has arrived in Paris from his small hometown; and Paul, the dedicated hedonist who puts him up. Despite their differences in temperament, the two young men strike up a close friendship, until an attractive woman comes between them.