Planning for Peace: Rethinking the Combatant Commander's Role in the Post-Conflict
Abstract
In light of the significant challenges in Iraq and Afghanistan, contemporary discourse has rightly focused on civil-military affairs and is rife with calls for a ?whole-of-government? approach that would provide greater capacity to other instruments of national power while better defining the military's role in post-conflict activities. United States Government decision makers have resisted the pursuit of sweeping changes to the structure and resourcing of the interagency to effectively plan and execute post-conflict operations, resulting in seams that lie between the rhetoric of cooperation and the reality of capacity. This paper argues that the CCDR should be the principle arbiter for post-conflict planning and that such planning should precede and inform the operational design leading to conflict termination. This thesis is supported through an exploration of the underpinning arguments for and against military primacy in planning for post-conflict operations, and an examination of doctrinal shortfalls that fail to support the CCDR's comprehensive estimates necessary to achieve success during the post-conflict period. Recommendations propose changes to joint doctrine that would include the development of a new Joint Interagency Planning Process.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 23, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA513953
Entities
People
- Christopher J. Parkhurst
Organizations
- Naval War College