1st Edition
Understanding Complex Military Operations A case study approach
This volume provides materials for active learning about peacebuilding and conflict management in the context of complex stability operations.
Today, America faces security challenges unlike any it has faced before, many of which requiring lengthy U.S. involvement in stability operations. These challenges are exceedingly dynamic and complex because of the ever changing mix and number of actors involved, the pace with which the strategic and operational environments change, and the constraints placed on response options.
This volume presents a series of case studies to inspire active learning about peacebuilding and conflict management in the context of complex stability operations. The case studies highlight dilemmas pertaining to the story of the case (case dilemma) and to its larger policy implications (policy dilemma). The cases stimulate readers to "get inside the heads" of case protagonists with widely differing cultural backgrounds, professional experiences, and individual and organisational interests. Overall, Understanding Complex Military Operations challenges the reader to recognize the importance of specific national security related issues and their inherent dilemmas, deduce policy implications, and discern lessons that might apply to other – perhaps even non-security related – areas of public policy, administration, and management.
This volume will be of much interest to students of conflict prevention, transitional justice, peacebuilding, security studies and professionals conducting field-based operations in potentially hazardous environments.
Foreword, Ambassador John E. Herbst (Ret.) 1. Complex Operations: Connecting Scholarship and Practice, Karen Guttieri and Volker Franke Part I: Policy Questions 2. The Road to Good Intentions: British Nation-building in Aden, Scott Smitson 3. The Declarations of Independence: The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, Rudy L. Hightower II 4. Mozambique: A Chance for Peace, Ann L. Phillips 5. Basra: Strategic Dilemmas and Force Options, John Hodgson Part II: Security Providers 6. Security by Contractor: Outsourcing in Peace and Stability Operations, Volker Franke 7. Leading Healing in a Broken Unit, Edward H. Powley and Scott N. Taylor 8. Right and Wrong, Balanced on the Edge of a Spear: U.S. Forces at a Mosque in Baghdad, Joshua Potter Part III: Coordination Challenges 9. The Kuwait Task Force: Postconflict Planning and Interagency Coordination, Dennis Barlow 10. Dynamics of Humanitarian Assistance: Civil Affairs in the Horn of Africa, Jessica Piombo 11. CORDS Campaign of Pacification, Rufus Phillips 12. Security by Drones: The Global Market for Remote-Controlled Warfare, Rebecca LeFebvre Part IV: Security and Development Program Challenges 13. Dynamic Tension: Security, Stability, and the Opium Trade, Peter Curry 14. A Penny for Your Thoughts, a Nickel for Your Heart: Buying Popular Support for Counterinsurgency, Justin Gorkowski 15. Reintegrating Child Soldiers, Kim Fletcher Part V: Analytic Cases 16. Whole of Society Conflict Prevention: A Case Study on Kenya’s Success Contrasted with Failures in Afghanistan and Iraq, Lisa Schirch 17. Military Intervention and Diplomatic Engagements in Libya: A Collage of Policy, Force and Law, Anna F. Triponel and Paul R. Williams 18. The Iraq War: Efforts during Conflict to Address Past Atrocities and Seek Accountability, Sandra L. Hodgkinson
Biography
Karen Guttieri is Assistant Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, U.S.
Volker Franke is Professor of Conflict Management at Kennesaw State University, Georgia, U.S., and is author/editor of three books.
Melanne A. Civic is the Special Advisor to the Center for Complex Operations (CCO) at the National Defense University (NDU), U.S., and is an attorney.
'The case method is a natural addition to training and education for complex operations. When the Case Center of the Georgetown University Institute for the Study of Diplomacy was asked to participate, we shared an analytical technique that would apply experiential learning in a new way. The central question for students of complex operations is: confronted by a new environment, how does an expert practitioner interpret the situation and reach new insights? There are many similarities that practitioners face in Iraq and Afghanistan, but successful operations in one environment is not wholly a recipe for success in the other. Teaching with the case method builds the analytical, decision-making skills that are not case, or lesson, dependent. The case study method and the practitioners who contributed to this volume have established a solid foundation for future complex operations' --- Charles Dolgas, Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University
'The origins of this case studies volume was a collaboration between the nascent Center for Complex Operations and the Naval Post Graduate School, with the aim of improving the ability of the U.S. Government to prepare for civil–military cooperation in counterinsurgency, irregular warfare and stability operations. Complex operations are tough! As soldiers, policy makers, peacekeepers, academics and other experts engaged in complex operations, we continue to face challenges, even after a decade of civilian-military cooperation in Iraq and Afghanistan. These case studies are designed to enhance the learning and analytical processes and better prepare professionals for the range of complex operations. And maybe, the next time we find ourselves shoulder-to-shoulder doing the difficult and necessary work inherent in complex operations, things will be just a little bit easier' ---David A. Sobyra, Office of the Secretary of Defense
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