Making the Case for Multinational Military Doctrine
Abstract
Significant global commitments, a dwindling overseas presence, and shrinking force levels suggest the United States will conduct most future operations in cooperation with its allies, friends, and coalition partners. Thus there is a need for multinational military doctrine. This article weighs two aspects of efforts to develop standard procedures. First, it looks at how existing joint doctrine deals with multinational issues. Second, it examines our experience in producing viable doctrine in an international context, with a focus on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). After the demise of the Soviet Union and dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, military planners and doctrine developers shifted emphasis from superpower confrontation to regional instabilities. Since 1989 the United States has mounted major operations in Panama, Kuwait, Somalia, Turkey, Haiti, and Bosnia. Although not all can be classified as combined or multinational, each required some interface between our forces and those of other nations. Drawdowns coupled with global commitments have reinforced the demand for doctrine that can address cooperation not only among the Armed Forces but among allies and coalition partners. The joint doctrine development process has yielded more than 75 joint publications since 1991. Less well known, however, is the effort to standardize guidance for multinational military operations (MNOs).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA524805
Entities
People
- Jay M. Vittori
Organizations
- National Defense University