Developing an Army Strategy for Building Partner Capacity for Stability Operations
Abstract
According to Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, to effectively carry out the war on terrorism, the military must learn two hard lessons from the wars it has conducted in Afghanistan and Iraq since the fall of 2001. First, "over the long term, the United States cannot kill or capture its way to victory." In other words, "soft power" -- including diplomacy, strategic communications, foreign assistance, civic action, and economic reconstruction -- is at least as important as, if not more than, "hard power" in creating the conditions for the eventual defeat of violent extremism throughout the world. To better meet this challenge, Gates has called for an increase in the capacity of civilian national security agencies -- in particular, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) -- so they can take the lead in exercising soft power in unstable parts of the globe. In addition, the Defense Secretary has recognized that the Department of Defense (DoD) must continue to play a major role in stability operations -- maintaining security, providing humanitarian aid, beginning reconstruction, bolstering local governments and public services, especially "in the midst of or in the aftermath of conflict." Gates's second major strategic lesson from recent U.S. interventions in the Middle East is the desirability of taking an "indirect approach" to prosecuting the war on terrorism. In his view, because the United States is unlikely to mount another major invasion and occupation in the foreseeable future, it should follow a sustainable counterterrorism strategy that does not rely on the massive application of U.S. combat power. The purpose of this study is to assist the U.S. Army, DoD, and other U.S. government agencies in developing a well-defined, well-integrated BPC for stability operations strategy and to create a nexus between the concepts of BPC and stability operations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA522751
Entities
People
- Cathryn Q. Thurston
- Charlotte Lynch
- David R. Howell
- Derek Eaton
- Janet Lewis
- Jefferson P. Marquis
- Jennifer D. Moroney
- Justin Beck
- Michael J. Neumann
- Scott Hiromoto
Organizations
- United States Army