Defense Sector Assessment Rating Tool
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has a number of assistance programs to build the capacity of foreign partners in order to promote a variety of different U.S. security goals. One overall goal could be to support a country in its efforts to reform its defense institutions and processes in ways to reflect what the United States views as important for effective military planning and operations, e.g. civilian control of the military professionalism. Through such efforts, the country would be better able to manage its own security problems and potentially partner with the United States and other countries in international military operations. Another set of goals could be to improve a country's capability to counter specific internal security threats, such as terrorism and insurgency, drug trafficking, porous land or sea borders, piracy, and instability in the aftermath of a conflict. An understanding of a country's defense sector can help policymakers promote any or all of these goals, as well as prioritize DoD programs and allocate scarce resources for an individual country or among different countries. The Defense Sector Assessment Rating Tool (DSART) is designed to provide policymakers with such an understanding. For the purposes of this tool, the defense sector in a country is defined as the uniformed military plus the military and civilian management, accountability, and oversight systems, mechanisms, and processes that sustain it. The DSART begins with a section that asks a series of questions. The answers to these questions provide an understanding of the general characteristics of the defense sector in the country. This provides background for undertaking the assessments in the six sections that follow. The questions in Section One (Characteristics of the Defense Sector) focus first on the military forces themselves and then on the various institutions and processes that sustain and exercise control over them.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA538795
Entities
Organizations
- RAND Corporation