Nation-Building Elevated

[Steve the Planner]

Dahayun:

"As soon as they knew the road project would be funded (and well before it was announced) they were already muscling in, acquiring legal rights to land and positioning themselves to profit from the road. The government would never have allowed those farmers to get legal title to the land in question because the people in charge wanted it for themselves."

I've done quite a few taking projects in the US for major roads, rail, and airports. Same thing in the US and anywhere. How did the guys on the "State Road Commissions" all get rich and powerful? Inside info oin where the highway was headed and land was going to be needed, and valuable (both for the road, and the subsequent uses adjacent to it.

In Blazing Saddles, they are trying to build the railroad, and get the land. The Governor says to his henchman: "All that stands between us and that valuable land are the rightful owners."

Same diff everywhere. A basic rule of the road for projects.

In Iraq, a lot of the technical types in 2008 were furiously opposed to provincial projects using national funds that were coming up through the US Sheik's Counsels and PRDCs/PRTs.

They knew that, too often, the schools or clinics being proposed were on some shiek's land (with rent or taking claims to follow), or were just poorly concieved, unstaffable, and un-necessary. From my review, many were like that, and their reason to delay/deny the projects were firmly grounded.

That's what always concerns me about projects.

[Steve the Planner]

Lessons Learned

So many of these COIN, Civ/Mil Manuals use bullets, jargon, and slogans for civ/mil stuff, but contain little practical information about specific how tos that somebody could use in the field when facing the same identical development/project problems over-and-over again.

Just a simple, dumb handbook (like the new ag field guide) would be a huge leap in effectiveness. What to consider when assigned to a rural village? What to consider when faced with a road or school project?

Big, dumb stuff.

Is our more effective contribution to just collect up the big dumb stuff that so overwhelmingly and colorfully gets demonstrated on SWJ's pages?

[M-A Lagrange]

They knew that, too often, the schools or clinics being proposed were on some shiek's land (with rent or taking claims to follow), or were just poorly concieved, unstaffable, and un-necessary. From my review, many were like that, and their reason to delay/deny the projects were firmly grounded.

That's what always concerns me about projects.

We all have the same concern. It's all the same everywhere. I have to manage peace projects and initiate reconsciliation conferences because some dummy minister is making sure his useless village gets all the projects.
The worst being the Un agencies heads who do not see where the problem is because they have to spend all the money they asked for without knowing how to spend it.

Just a simple, dumb handbook (like the new ag field guide) would be a huge leap in effectiveness. What to consider when assigned to a rural village? What to consider when faced with a road or school project?

Big, dumb stuff.

State Building for the dummy? We have here a best seller!

[Steve the Planner]

MA-


Maybe not a big market, but definitely a book (or source) that has to be created.

Is that where we can contribute?

The SWJ Civil/Military for Dummies Handbook with lessons learned.

Steve

[jmm99]

The "Small Wars Journal Empire" might not want its name in the title; but Lessons Learned could be one product. Or, something more concrete might develop.

Mike

[Surferbeetle]

Restoring basic services is key. *Focusing for a moment exclusively upon water SMEs could assess the condition of existing pipe networks (via visual, dye, smoke, camera), pumping systems (booster stations, lift stations, well houses, river intakes, treament plants),*storage sites (tanks and facilities) and treament sites (package plants and dedicated treament plants) SCADA systems, and trucks (delivery tankers, vac trucks, and maintenance). *Target is to provide a clean 7 to 15 liters/person/day and treat the resultant wastewater. * **

[Steve the Planner]

Along with a brief explanation of why that 7 to 15 is important, and its variabilities (temperature, etc...). And simple version of how to treat water, or detect water borne illnesses.

And some basics about wells, karsks, etc...

And about "water rights" and an overview of what of the farmework and implications of that concept are at a local level.

All the dumb stuff in one place,

Makes any soldier capable of being a fairly decent first level responder.

Now back to the structure. If you had this Dummies book, can you also arrange that upstairs is somebody who can serve as the basic second level responder (has access to water table, soils maps, rain fall stuff to assist, support the first level responder, and a framework for him to get dumb things deployed like chlorine tablets and simple test kits, or to coordinate testing processes (a good civilian business/employment opportunity---one per district or something). Somebody somewhere to make sure that each of the first and second level responders are on track, and not, trhough too much of one strategy, marching off a cliff.

I've seen plenty of really simple diagrams for the hydro cycle, water tables, stuff like that. But how does a person in the field link to find out what actually applies where he is, what typical local systems and components to understand and target, what NOT to do (drill lots of wells and collapse the aquifer).

Water for Dummies

Then Schools for Dummies, Health Clinics for Dummies, and Electricity for Dummies, and you start to have all the pieces for a component approach, less first time learning, and more synchronization and planning/resource/logistics options.

Anyone building or maintaining a school system knows that you try to standardize all the parts, equipment and FFE (furniture, fixtures and equipment---desks, flourescent tubes & starters, chalk boards, etc...) in order to improve service and cut costs.

Same stuff is just basic to health clinics, etc..., better to have five that are identically equipped and easily resupplied, maintained, operated, than ten that are all different and won't be sustainable beyond a year or two.

And that standardization is the essence of training for teachers, clinic staff, and maintenance workers for wells, power, etc... Common systems and common equipment supply chains... Now you can plan, train, employ and manage....improving the service of local government the way local governments actually do it.