The Scroll and the Sword: Synergizing Civil-Military Power
Abstract
The emerging strategic environment has so far provided some dear lessons. Foremost is that a successful long-term national security strategy must bring together military and non-military elements of power early and often. Greater use of civil and soft power is both more desirable and decisive in winning the peace and the "war of ideas". Failure to realize this opportunity at many decision-making levels can not only cost many lives - it can also cost immense amounts of credibility and treasure threatening to undermine long-term U.S. grand strategy. Increasingly national security and military strategic thinkers are coming to a new appreciation of the need to leverage softer civil elements of national power represented in the interagency process and the private sector. However a unifying concept of national strategic principles for synergizing civil-military power has yet to find full articulation. These principles may be found among other places in the evolving concepts of civil-military operations (CMO) as a way and capabilities like Civil Affairs (CA) as a means. At all levels and across the operational spectrum evolving CMO and CA are at the forefront of stability transition to peace reconstruction and counterinsurgency operations. Meanwhile demand for Army CA itself in a state of dynamic change has exhausted supply. Indeed as the strategic and operational value of CMO and CA becomes more apparent Joint and Army doctrines struggle to address asymmetric and ideological challenges and place CMO and CA in appropriate context. This study looks to identify that strategic context a conceptual hierarchy and principles for synergizing civil and military elements of power.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 14, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA449439
Entities
People
- Christopher J. Holshek
Organizations
- United States Army War College