America's Transitional Capacity: War, Systems, and Globalization
Abstract
The ideas of peace, freedom, a basic level of human rights, and free markets abroad are deeply rooted in America's foreign policy objectives. The United States selectively uses its military as a means to implement these ideas abroad. However, the American way of war creates extremely complex challenges for the transitional period between dominating an enemy force and creating a stabilized free and prosperous host nation. There are no set principles or checklists for transitional periods, or even a set point in time when all operations transition from the domination phase to the stability phase. Each transitional period presents its own set of unique challenges. This research focuses on America's military strategy and operational approach in Germany during World War II and in the 2003 Iraqi War. Each war is analyzed using two concepts: systems theory and globalization. Unlike World War II, operations in Iraq failed to successfully transition from Phase III domination operations to Phase IV stability operations. During this "golden hour" of transition, coalition efforts failed to increase Iraq's internal governmental control due to a lack of comprehensive interagency and intergovernmental planning before the war started. Unintended side effects of certain unsynchronized operations and decisions inhibited the transitional period and the ability to maintain control in later phases. Following Phase III operations, the United States must be able to support the new host nation's efforts to build internal institutions that maintain control and security while simultaneously connecting the host nation to the globalized world. This means that the military must be capable of accomplishing its mission during Phase III in such a way that it facilitates the transition to Phase IV. To accomplish this, the United States military must identify better ways and means to approach the various systems within a country before, during, and after conflict.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 23, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA583787
Entities
People
- Ryan D. Barnett
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College