Nation Building

1
Nation Building

• Are we built to build nations?

2
Nation Building a Dirty Word?

• Stability Operations
• A partnership to establish or reestablish the
  institutions essential to democracy and good
  governance.

3
Whos in Charge?

• United Nations
• Coalition or Regional Security Organization
• The United States

4
Why Here and not There?

• Inherently a Political Decision
• What is the impact on United States interests?
• Security
• Economic
• Historic and Cultural
• Humanitarian Intervention
• Ideology

5
Who Decides?

• The President
• National Security Council
• The Presidents key advisors in all matters
  relating to national security.

6
National Security Council

• Vice President
• Assistant to the President for National Security
  Affairs
• Secretaries of
• State
• Defense
• Treasury
• Director of Central Intelligence (intel advisor)
• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (military
  advisor)
• Others, as required

7
Department of State

• Create a more secure, democratic, and prosperous
  world for the benefit of the American people and
  the international community
• Lead Federal Agency Foreign Affairs
• Anything having to do with the international
  community
• Lots of expertise, limited resources

8
Department of State

• Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
• Political Affairs
• Regional Bureaus
• Arms Control and International Security
• Economics, Business, and Agriculture
• Global
• Counterterrorism

9
USAID

• US Agency for International Development
• The experts in building capacity
• Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA)
• Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI)

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Department of Defense

• To provide the military forces needed to deter
  war and to protect the security of the United
  States
• Roles
• Warfighting
• Humanitarian Assistance
• Peacekeeping
• Evacuation
• Homeland Security

11
Department of Defense

• Office of the Secretary of Defense
• Joint Staff
• Regional Combatant Commands
• Special Operations Command
• Lots of resources and enthusiasm

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Military Services

• Army
• Navy
• Marine Corps
• Air Force

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Stability Operations

• Special Operations Command
• Special Operations Forces
• Special Forces (Green Berets)
• SEALS
• Special Operations Aviation
• Psychological Operations
• Civil Affairs
• Conventional Forces

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State vs. Defense

• Political nuance
• Seeing all sides
• Inclusiveness
• Discussion/dialog
• Revisiting options
• Ability to reach out
• Multi-faceted approach

• Decisiveness
• Goal oriented
• Focused
• Mission driven
• Planning expertise
• Unilateral action

15
Department of Justice

• Judicial systems
• Rule of Law
• Federal law enforcement
• Law enforcement training

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Department of Treasury

• Financial systems
• Multilateral financing for reconstruction and
  development

17
Department of Homeland Security

• Key skill sets essential for a stable and secure
  environment
• Coast Guard
• Border and transportation security
• Infrastructure Protection
• Immigration

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Central Intelligence Agency

• Training and equipping of security forces
• Intelligence
• Whats going on?
• Who are the important players?
• Security threats

19
Other Important Agencies

• Department of Labor
• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Health and Human Services
• Department of Commerce
• Department of Energy
• Environmental Protection Agency

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Wheres Congress?

• Funding money makes policy a reality, otherwise
  its just wishful thinking
• Authorities (who can do what and what can we do
  with the money)
• The curse of narrowly defined authorities
• Title 10 and Title 22
• Armed Services, Foreign Relations Committees

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Other Players

• United Nations
• World Bank and International Monetary Fund
• Other State partners
• Regional organizations
• Security alliances
• Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)
• Charities
• Interest groups

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What about the People?

• The nation we are trying to build is a wreck for
  a reason
• War and conflict
• Ethnic divisions
• Religious strife
• Refugees and migration
• Famine, environmental degradation
• No Rule of Law
• What do we build?

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National Security Council Staff

• Brings this all together
• Orchestrating the Interagency
• No authority to direct to action
• National Security Council
• Deputies Committee (DC)
• Policy Coordinating Committees (PCC)
• Ad hoc Interagency working groups
• Functional and regional agency working groups
• Establishing legitimacy

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Bureaucracy (Not a dirty word)

• All designed to give solid policy guidance and
  advice to the President based on the consensus
  of multiple disciplines and perspectives
• Pro
• Balanced view from all perspectives
• Results in a coordinated, focused US government
  effort
• Coordinated Interagency approach usually has the
  highest probability of long-term success
• Con
• Slow vulnerability to rice bowl stalling,
  disruption
• Low risk, low payoff

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Bureaucracy

• Without a coordinated interagency approach
• Lack of Unity of Command
• Agencies prone to working at cross purposes
• Agencies duplicate efforts
• One particular agencys perspective may dominate
• Consequently alienating other agencies
• Legitimacy or lack thereof

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Lead Federal Agency

• Most things State
• Military Operations Department of Defense
• Combating terrorism overseas none of the above

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So Whos in Charge?

• Deciding whos in charge has a profound impact on
  our approach.
• It may be that we never resolve this issue
• Unity of Command
• Unity of Effort
• Ability to lead
• Ability to follow

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Defining Success

• When can we leave?
• Who is in charge when we leave?
• Differing perspectives of Democracy
• Economic stability and prosperity
• Legal institutions and the respect for the rule
  of law
• A state the abides by the norms of respectable
  international behavior

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How Have We Done?

• Our track record isnt particularly good
• We dont play well with others
• We want to be in charge or we dont play
• We change our minds and our priorities on a whim
• Reasonably constant across administrations
• We do well managing the family of nationstates

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Case Studies

• Somalia
• Sierra Leone
• Afghanistan
• Iraq

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Somalia

• Black Hawk Down
• Who was in charge?
• UN humanitarian mission
• Alleviated the conditions of starvation
• In the process strengthened the warlords
• US in control of its military forces
• Minimal presence (for political reasons) meant no
  access to key weapons systems
• Unable to stabilize the security environment

32
Sierra Leone

• Historical ties to the UK
• UN peacekeeping mission
• British military intervention to establish a
  stable security environment
• State lead
• Working through ECOWAS
• Providing them the tools and training to
  establish stability
• USAID played a key role
• Office of Transition Initiatives

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Afghanistan

• US led military operation - CENTCOM
• NATO participation and command of ISAF
• Security environment is reasonably stable
• Allows infrastructure development
• Resources have been made available to do what
  needs to be done
• Sovereign government in charge
• Legitimacy

34
Iraq

• Whos in charge? Whats the primary mission?
• Initial planning reflected the military nature of
  the operation the Defense worldview
• Military operation has assumed State-like
  functions (CPA)
• Paul Bremmer, CPA
• Iraqi Governing Council
• CENTCOM
• SOCOM

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Iraq

• Success at the micro level
• Individual units and people
• Military Police
• Civil Affairs
• Found wanting at the macro level
• Unrealistic assumptions, deadlines, objectives
• No clear lines of authority and responsibility
• Underfunding the construction of a new state
• Inability to build a substantive coalition

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Future Challenges

• Coordinating US efforts
• Including other partners
• Willingness to follow
• Identifying and committing the necessary
  resources