Thinking Big about the Small Footprint: Making Strategy for a Security Cooperation Campaign in Burma
Abstract
Burma (Myanmar) is in the midst of an exceptional transition from rule by dictatorship to becoming a more democratic state. The biggest threats to this transition are the ethnic insurgencies that have existed since the countrys independence. The United States has increased engagement with Burma but if the administration chooses to deepen relations to facilitate this transition, Burmas military, the countrys most powerful political actor, must be the central target in order to deal with the insurgency problem. Such engagement would likely take the form of a military-to-military security cooperation campaign, and this study surveys the limitations of making strategy for these campaigns and then proposes a methodology for accomplishing this. Current guidance drives rigid end states and the removal of strategy from a deep knowledge of the environment, and therefore a better way to conceive strategy for a security cooperation campaign is to envision, through analysis, a better state of affairs. To achieve this better state, the strategist must understand the context and then apply theory that then results in the creation of strategic goals. Applying this methodology to the Burma case, this paper finds that there are two applicable theories: democratization and counterinsurgency. These theories, along with the contextual elements, generate two main strategic categories with five nested strategic goals. First, the strategy should aim to secure the population, using efforts to halt abuses of ethnic groups and provide physical security for the population. Second, the strategy should strive to connect the government to the ethnic populations, using efforts to stabilize ethnic areas, address the populations needs in these areas, and enhance the governments legitimacy and control at the same time.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 13, 2014
- Accession Number
- AD1019235
Entities
People
- Paul E. Pendleton
Organizations
- Air War College