America is Not an Effective Post-Conflict Nation-Building Force
Abstract
The US government (USG) should facilitate nation-building effort by IGOs/NGOs and regional governments so that the USG takes on a minimum security role (through the DoD) and a nation-building advisory role (through the DoS) in place of being the main effort. The USG should participate directly in post-conflict nation-building only as far as the scale of commitment, institutional arrangement, and societal makeup meet specific conditions and only in support of IGOs/NGOs and regional governments. The USG needs to use an instrument of power that competes for support from local masses in a weak state toward the side of US interests. The military instrument cannot do this; however, though the DoS has limited capacity for direct action it has significant ability to diplomatically influence others. A coalition of IGOs/NGOs and regional governments has the best chance of planning and executing successful post-conflict nation-building efforts, so the USG should reduce its role to providing immediate minimum security and then influencing a nation-building coalition to satisfactorily address commitment, organization, and societal issues.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 27, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1176356
Entities
People
- Robert W Jr Sturgill
Organizations
- Marine Corps University