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1.3.

PLANNING, MECHANISMS, CIVIL SUPPORT


The character of the current conflicts is unlike any other in recent
history, where military forces operating among the people from many
nations of the world will decide the major battles and engagements.
The greatest threats to global security will not come from emerging
ambitious states but from nations unable or unwilling to meet the
basic needs and aspirations of their people. In these cases, the margin
of victory will be measured in far different terms from the wars
experienced in the past when the military forces used to mass the fire
power,destroy the main objectives and military command of the
enemy, remain until the victory was recognized by official politic
agreement and leave away from the occupied territories. In the way of
current operations, time may be the ultimate arbiter of success: time to
bring safety and security to an embattled populace; time to provide for
the essential, immediate humanitarian needs of the people; time to
restore basic public order and return to normalcy of life; and time to
rebuild the institutions of government and market economy that
provide the foundations for enduring peace and stability.This is
actually in short the essence of stability operations.
As a broad definition, stability operations encompass various
military missions, tasks, and activities conducted outside the national
territories, within a multinationa framework, in coordination with
other instruments of national power to maintain or reestablish a safe
and secure environment, provide essential governmental services,
emergency infrastructure reconstruction, and humanitarian relief.
Especially for army forces the military have to assume a relevant role
before, during and after combat operations across and as part of full
spectrum operations.
This important transformation should produce changes in many
field related to military missions including doctrine, organizations,
training, education, exercises, material, leadership,personnel,
facilities, and planning.
The key element of stability and support operations is the
comprehensive approach to stability operations, through which
military forces establish conditions that enable the efforts of the other
instruments of national and international power. By providing the

requisite security and control to stabilize an operational area, those


military forces in fact build a foundation for transition to civilian
control, in the benefits of to the host nation.
Stability operations are usually conducted to support a given hostnation government or a transitional legitimate civil authority to
become functional by taking control over entire society. For that,
military forces establish or restore basic civil functions and protect
them until a civil authority or the host- nation is capable of providing
these services for the local populace. They perform specific functions
as part of a broader response effort, supporting the complementary
activities of their agencies, organizations, and the private sector. When
the host-nation or other agency cannot fulfill their role, military forces
may be called upon to significantly increase its role,including
providing the basic civil functions of government.
By nature, stability operations are typically long term endeavors.
All tasks must be performed with a focus toward maintaining the
delicate balance between long-term success and short-term gains.
Ultimately, stability operations do not necessarily aim to reduce the
military presence quickly but to achieve broader national policy goals
that extend beyond the objectives of military operations. The more
effective those military efforts are at setting conditions that facilitate
the efforts of the other instruments of national power, the more likely
it is that the long-term commitment of substantial military forces will
be required.
COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH
A comprehensive approach (CA) is a process that integrates the
cooperative efforts of the host-nation government, military
international forces, intergovernmental and nongovernmental
organizations, multinational partners, and private sector entities to
achieve unity of effort toward a shared goal.
A CA is founded in the cooperative spirit of unity of effort. It is
common in successful operations involving actors participating at
their own discretion or present in the operational area but not acting as
a member of a coalition. Integration and collaboration often elude the
diverse array of actors involved; A CA achieves unity of effort through
extensive cooperation and coordination to forge a shared

understanding of a common goal.


A comprehensive approach is framed by four underlying tenets:
Accommodate. The approach accommodates the concerns and
contributions of all participants; it determines appropriate priorities for
re-sourcing and sets support relationships as required to de-conflict
activities;
Understand. The approach leverages a shared understanding of
the situation toward a common goal. Understanding does not imply
conformity; each actor contributes a distinct set of professional,
technical, and cultural disciplines, values, and perceptions. Together
they provide breadth, depth, and resilience to assessment, planning,
and execution;
Base on purpose. The approach focuses cooperative effort toward
a common, purpose-based goal. The approach links discreet, yet
interrelated, tasks and objectives to conditions that comprise the
desired end state;
Cooperate. The approach is based on a cooperative effort
reinforced by institutional familiarity, trust, and transparency.
Communities of practice that provide forums for information sharing
and concept development support cooperation among the actors
involved.
ROLE OF STABILITY OPERATIONS
To achieve conditions that ensure a stable and lasting peace,
stability operations capitalize on coordination, cooperation,
integration, and synchronization among military and nonmilitary
organizations. These complementary civil-military efforts aim to
strengthen legitimate governance, restore or maintain rule of law,
support economic and infrastructure development, and foster a sense
of national unity. These complementary efforts also seek to reform
institutions to achieve sustainable peace and security and create the
conditions that enable the host-nation government to assume
responsibility for civil administration.
A proper framework provides the underpinnings for strategic,
whole of government planning, yet also serves as a focal point for
integrating operational- and tactical-level tasks. It is flexible and

adaptive enough to support activities across the spectrum of conflict


but relies on concrete principles and
fundamentals in application. Within the framework, the end state
conditions include the following:
A safe and secure environment;
Established rule of law;
Social well-being;
Stable governance;
A sustainable economy.
SAFE AND SECURE ENVIRONMENT
In the aftermath of conflict or disaster, conditions often create a
significant security vacuum within the state. The
government institutions are either unwilling or unable to provide
security. In many cases, these institutions do not
operate within internationally accepted norms. They are involved with
corruption, abusing the power entrusted to them by the state.
Sometimes these institutions actually embody the greatest threat to the
populace. These conditions only serve to move away at the very
foundation of the host nations stability.
Security is the most immediate concern of the military force, a
concern typically shared by the local populace. A safe and secure
environment is one in which these civilians can live their day-to-day
lives without fear of being drawn into violent conflict or victimized by
criminals. Achieving this condition require extensive collaboration
with civil authorities, the trust and confidence of the people, and
strength of perseverance.
The most immediate threat to a safe and secure environment is
generally a return to fighting by former warring
parties. However, insurgent forces, criminal elements, and terrorists
also significantly threaten the safety and security of the local
populace. The following objectives support a safe and secure
environment:
Cessation of large-scale violence enforce;
Public security established;
Legitimate monopoly over means of violence established;
Physical protection established;

Territorial security established.


ESTABLISHED RULE OF LAW
While military forces aim to establish a safe and secure
environment, the rule of law requires much more: security of
individuals and accountability for crimes committed against them.
These basic elements are critical for a broader culture of rule of law to
take hold in a society emerging from conflict. This typically require a
broad effort that integrates the activities of a wide array of actors,
focusing civilian and military law and order capabilities to support
host-nation civil institutions in establishing and supporting the rule of
law. These functions must be rooted in a shared sense of confidence
among the population that the justice sector is oriented toward serving
the public rather than pursuing narrow interests. Planning, preparing,
and executing the transfer of responsibility from military to hostnation control for rule of law, although critical for building public
confidence is often the most difficult and complex transition
conducted in a stability operation. Failure to ensure continuity of rule
of law through this transition threatens the safety and security of the
local populace, erodes the legitimacy of the host nation, and serves as
an obstacle to long-term development and achieving the desired and
state.
Just legal framework established
Law and order enforced
Accountability to the law
Acces to justice ensured
Citizen participation promoted
Public security established
SUPPORT TO SOCIAL IMPROVEMENTS
The most immediate needs of a host-nation population emerging
from conflict or disaster are generally clear: food, water, shelter, basic
sanitation, and health care. International aid typically responds quickly
in most situations, often due to their presence in, or proximity to, the
affected area. If allowed, and once the situation is relatively stable and
secure, local and international aid organizations can provide for the
immediate

humanitarian needs of the people, establish sustainable assistance


programs, and assist with dislocated civilians.
However, attention while planning must also be paid to long-term
requirements: developing educational systems, addressing past abuses,
and promoting peaceful coexistence among the host-nation people.
These requirements are most appropriately supported by the efforts of
civilian actors, including other government agencies,
intergovernmental organizations, and NGOs. Resolving issues of
truth and justice are paramount to this process, and systems of
compensation and reconciliation are essential.
The following objectives support social well-being:
Access to and delivery of basic needs ensured;
Right of return ensured;
Transitional justice promoted;
Peaceful coexistence supported.
SUPPORT FOR STABLE GOVERNANCE
At least in the past twenty years, all international interventions
have aimed to establish stable governments with legitimate systems of
political representation at the national, regional, and local levels. In a
stable government, the host- nation people regularly elect a
representative legislature according to established rules and in a
manner generally recognized as free and fair. Legislatures must be
designed consistently with a legal framework and legitimate
constitution. Officials must be trained, processes created, and rules
established.
Typically, early elections in a highly polarized society empower
elites, senior military leaders, and organized criminal elements.
However, the local populace will likely seek early and visible signs of
progress; therefore, reform processes should begin at the provincial or
local level to minimize the likelihood of national polarization and
reemergence of violent divisions in society. This allows popular
leaders, capable of delivering
services and meeting the demands of their constituents, and effective
processes to emerge.
To achieve success, stable governments also require effective
executive institutions. Such capacity building generally requires a

long-term commitment of effort from the international community to


reestablish effective ministries and a functional civil service at all
levels of government. Stable governments also require free and
responsible media, multiple political parties, and a robust civil society.
The following objectives support a stable government:
Accountability of leadership and institutions promoted;
Certifying the state resources promoted;
Civic participation and empowerment encouraged;
Provision of government services supported.
This framework is not intended to be all-inclusive; no two situations
are exactly the same and the development of strategy must be adapted
to the specific conditions of the operational environment. A detailed
conflict assessment and analysis provide the foundation upon which to
build a strategy for engagement. That assessment and analysis
underpins conflict transformation efforts, addressing the root causes of
conflict while building host-nation institutional capacity to sustain
effective governance, economic development, and rule of law.
SUPPORT TO SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY
Following conflict or a major disaster, economies tend toward a
precarious state. They often suffer from serious structural problems
that must be addressed immediately.
However, they also possess significant growth potential. Commerce,
both legitimate and illicit, previously inhibited by circumstances
emerges quickly to fill market voids and entrepreneurial opportunities.
International aid and the requirements of intervening military forces
often infuse the economy with abundant resources, stimulating rapid
growth across the economic sector. However, much of this growth is
temporary. It tends to highlight increasing income inequalities, the
governments lagging capacity to manage and sustain
growth, and expanding opportunities for corruption. Rather than
focus efforts toward immediately achieving
economic growth, intervening elements aim to build on those aspects
of the economic sector that enable the economy to become selfsustaining. These include physical infrastructure, sound fiscal and

economic policy, an effective and predictable regulatory and legal


environment, a viable workforce, business development and increased
access to capital, and effective management of natural resources. The
following objectives support a sustainable economy:
Macroeconomic stabilization supported;
Control over illicit economy and economic-based threats
to peace enforced;
Market economy sustainability supported;
Individual economic security supported;
Employment supported.
Whether stability operations are led by an international body, a
coalition of nations, or the domestic leaders of the affected nation,
dynamic, transformational leadership is central to any successful
effort. It is the catalyst that drives broad success in any operation.
Effective leadership inspires and influences others to work together
toward a common goal; this is the essence of unity of effort. Through
unity of effort, leaders leverage diverse agencies and organizations to
pursue complementary actions, focus discreet activities, and shape
decisions to support a shared understanding and recognition of the
desired end state.

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