Soft Power: a collection of writing & posts

[Surferbeetle]

As an Army CA-Bubba (and AF-brat) I applaud LTG Seip for sharing his views on soft power here at SWJ. I do wish that he had included more footnotes/links so that we here at the board could follow at least part of the path, which he followed to arrive at some of his conclusions. IMHO the educational effects of SWJ with it’s free-wheeling discourse on variety of topics benefits from the presence of seasoned practitioners, those beginning the journey, and journeymen such as myself who are always looking for hints on how to do things better.

Soft Power missions foster increased security and stability within partner nations, thereby increasing the conditions necessary for free peoples to prosper. Soft Power helps to emplace infrastructure, the rule of law, the internal ability to effectively respond to natural disasters and professional militaries to enable citizens to freely exercise rights and make responsible choices about their nation’s destiny. In addition Soft Power missions develop strong partnerships and open communication channels, allowing nations to collaborate in solving regional challenges. On the other end of the spectrum, instability and insecurity tend to breed dictatorships, offer safe havens to narcoterrorism and repress human rights.

IMHO AF SOUTHCOM missions are needed and the benefits of Jointness are on display here. However, as I wander from CTC to CTC, I note the presence of AF representation in terms of Air Support and note the absence of AF Civil Engineering Flights, AF Medical Units, and USN Seabees at these very valuable events. I have bumped into Marine CAG, and DOS folks at these same events. These observations may be the result of oversight on my part or scheduling issues, or perhaps it is a reflection of something else. My take on things is that all of us need to get together more often and practice on what it is that we want to do together, before we head downrange to do things.

I would like to share with the group some links that I have found on civil affairs and military government and how America has employed this cross-service, cross-agency capability. My list of sources is laughably incomplete and as usual I need help from the SWJ Council in fleshing things out.

Wikipedia provides the following entries on civil affairs.

Civil Affairs

Definition: "UN Civil Affairs components work at the social, administrative and sub-national political levels to facilitate the countrywide implementation of peacekeeping mandates and to support the population and government in strengthening conditions and structures conducive to sustainable peace."

According to the U.S. Army, "Civil Affairs units help military commanders by working with civil authorities and civilian populations in the commander’s area of operations to lessen the impact of military operations on them during peace, contingency operations and declared war." With their expertise in civil matters, they are the principle unit in assisting a commander in the conduct of civil-military operations.

CA units act as a liaison between the civilian inhabitants of a warzone or disaster area and the military presence, both informing the local commander of the status of the civilian populace as well as effecting assistance to locals by either coordinating military operations with non-governmental organizations (NGOs)and IGO's or distributing directly aid and supplies.

Comprised primarily of civilian experts such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, police, firemen, bankers, computer programmers, farmers, and others, CA special operators provide critical expertise to host-nation governments and are also able to assess need for critical infrastructure projects such as roads, clinics, schools, power plants, water treatment facilities, etc. Once a project has been decided on, a contract is put out at a civil-military operations center for local contractors to come and bid. CA teams will periodically check up on the status of the project to make sure the money is being well-spent.

CA provides the commander with cultural expertise, assesses the needs of the civilian populace, handles civilians on the battlefield, refugee operations, keeps the commander informed of protected targets such as schools, churches, hospitals, etc., and interfaces with local and international NGOs and private volunteer organizations, which provides the commander with a unique battlefield overlay of all civilian activity, ongoing infrastructure projects, and the presence and mission of NGOs in the area.

Some of my free-time reading (the easily downloadable kind) on this subject includes:

Rand Document CF 251 Integrating Instruments of Power and Influence: Lessons Learned and Best Practices

Rand Document MG 557, The Beginners Guide to Nation Building

Rand Document MG 304, The RAND History of Nation Building