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A critical look into how and why the U.S. military needs to become
more adaptable. Every military must prepare for future wars despite
not really knowing the shape such wars will ultimately take. As
former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates once noted: "We have
a perfect record in predicting the next war. We have never once
gotten it right." In the face of such great uncertainty, militaries
must be able to adapt rapidly in order to win. Adaptation under
Fire identifies the characteristics that make militaries more
adaptable, illustrated through historical examples and the recent
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Authors David Barno and Nora Bensahel
argue that militaries facing unknown future conflicts must
nevertheless make choices about the type of doctrine that their
units will use, the weapons and equipment they will purchase, and
the kind of leaders they will select and develop to guide the force
to victory. Yet after a war begins, many of these choices will
prove flawed in the unpredictable crucible of the battlefield. For
a U.S. military facing diverse global threats, its ability to adapt
quickly and effectively to those unforeseen circumstances may spell
the difference between victory and defeat. Barno and Bensahel start
by providing a framework for understanding adaptation and include
historical cases of success and failure. Next, they examine U.S.
military adaptation during the nation's recent wars, and explain
why certain forms of adaptation have proven problematic. In the
final section, Barno and Bensahel conclude that the U.S. military
must become much more adaptable in order to address the
fast-changing security challenges of the future, and they offer
recommendations on how to do so before it is too late.
Security force assistance (SFA) is a central pillar of the
counterinsurgency campaign being waged by U.S. and coalition forces
in Afghanistan. This monograph analyzes SFA efforts in Afghanistan
over time, documents U.S. and international approaches to building
the Afghan force from 2001 to 2009, and provides observations and
recommendations that emerged from extensive fieldwork in
Afghanistan in 2009 and their implications for the U.S. Army. This
title analyzes security force assistance efforts in Afghanistan,
focusing on lessons and themes that emerged from extensive
fieldwork in Afghanistan in 2009 and their implications for the
U.S. Army.
U.S. experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan have demonstrated that
improving U.S. capacity for stabilization and reconstruction
operations is critical to national security. The authors recommend
building civilian rather than military capacity, realigning and
reforming existing agencies, and funding promising programs. They
also suggest improvements to deployable police capacity,
crisis-management processes, and guidance and funding.
This monograph examines prewar planning efforts for the
reconstruction of postwar Iraq. It then examines the role of U.S.
military forces after major combat officially ended on May 1, 2003,
through June 2004. Finally, it examines civilian efforts at
reconstruction, focusing on the activities of the Coalition
Provisional Authority and its efforts to rebuild structures of
governance, security forces, economic policy, and essential
services.
Peace is the most essential product of nation-building. Without
peace, neither economic growth nor democratization is possible. The
authors of "Europe's Role in Nation-Building" investigate the use
of armed force as part of broader nation-building efforts led by
European powers and its success at achieving the objective of
transforming a society emerging from conflict into one at peace
with itself and its neighbours. They then evaluate Europe's
performance against the U.S. and United Nations records in past
nation-building operations.The authors focus on factors that can be
influenced by outside powers, making valuable recommendations that
address the pitfalls of and lessons learned from past operations.
They emphasize the need for multilateral operations and the
involvement of crucial actors like the European Union and NATO. The
success of nation-building activities depends on the wisdom with
which all resources are employed."The RAND Nation-Building" series
is just this kind of resource, having drawn from a total of 22
European, U.N. and U.S. led nation-building operations since World
War II. Other volumes in the series examine the involvement of the
United States and the UN in nation-building efforts. In this new
addition to the series, the authors take an in-depth look at six
European cases (Macedonia, Bosnia, Cote d'Ivoire, Albania, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sierra Leone) and one
Australian-led operation (the Solomon Islands) to complete a
comprehensive history of best practices in nation-building. This
series serves as an indispensable reference for the planning of
successful future interventions.
An assessment of humanitarian-assistance efforts by and interaction
between civilian and military providers in the early phases of
Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan Description and
evaluation of relief, reconstruction, humanitarian, and
humanitarian-type aid efforts in Afghanistan during the most
intense phase of military operations, from September 2001 to June
2002. The efforts were generally successful, but there were serious
coordination problems among the various civilian and military aid
providers. Critical issues, both positive and negative, are
identified, and a list of recommendations is provided for
policymakers, implementers, and aid providers, based on lessons
learned.
The security environment in the Middle East has become increasingly
complicated during the past decade. While fears of interstate
aggression certainly remain important, they are manifesting
themselves in new ways. The Arab-Israeli conflict has taken on new
dimensions, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are an increasing
concern, and international sanctions have become a controversial
tool. Terrorists recruited and trained in the Middle East have
carried out devastating attacks far beyond their own borders. Many
of these security issues are profoundly affected by the many
domestic changes occurring in the Middle East. This report seeks to
identify the trends that are likely to shape regional security in
the Middle East, and to identify their implications for the United
States. Each chapter addresses a different substantive area,
ranging from political and economic trends to energy policy and
weapons proliferation, in an effort to assess their long-term
impact on regional security. The authors identify potential
problems on the horizon, opportunities available to the United
States and its allies, and the implications of these trends for the
United States.
The long-term success of the counterterror campaign will depend on
concerted cooperation from European states, but a key question is
the extent to which that cooperation should be pursued through
European multilateral institutions. This study argues that the
United States should pursue military and intelligence cooperation
on a bilateral basis, and it should increasingly pursue financial
and law enforcement cooperation on a multilateral basis. The United
States should adopt a nuanced strategy in its counterterror
relations with Europe.
This guidebook is designed to help U.S. Army personnel more
effectively use economic assistance to support economic and
infrastructure development. It should help tactical commanders
choose and implement more effective programs and projects in their
areas of responsibility and better understand the economic context
of their efforts. It also provides suggestions on what to and what
not to do, with examples from current and past operations.
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