Applied Smart Power by a SEAL

[J. Robert DuBois]

ganulv and Dayuhan,

Thanks for your comments - I think each time we have an exchange of perspectives it illuminates a little better what assumptions might be driving a conversation in different directions.

ganulv, you're spot on that governments, like individuals, will take the path of least resistance. It's just good business to economize wherever possible on costs of money or time or effort. I don't believe we could point to much in OIF/OND or OEF that indicate this dynamic in action, though, because God knows there are plenty of good, old fashioned hatreds and grievance behind the chaos there. In other lands it's entirely possible that regimes overinflate their relative instability if it will net them a larger share of the US national teat...I would, if anyone would trust me with a country.

Dayuhan, I'm especially interested in your comment because it really gets to the heart of the matter of responsibilities for the military. You questioned whether it's sensible to train armies for development...and so do I. Armies are designed to break things or, better still, to present a convincing enough capacity for breaking things that nothing ever actually has to get broken.

The screaming, glaring, invisible-in-plain-sight problem is, development must occur for stability to exist. In my country's case, that means the USG must have a development capacity if we are going to take on development. It doesn't mean DoD has to "do" it. I'm saying that every body should perform its role...and our gaping hole in capacity lies in the coordination of those bodies.

If DoS has development responsibility, can DoS carry that out in isolation? USG (the parent) has the responsibility to "teach" DoS and DoD to work together, like any siblings. In an effective system - which I don't believe is an impossible dream - DoS and DoD support one another like a well-oiled machine. Okay, maybe that is a dream, but it's not impossible.

The yin-yang, or soft-hard, or diplomacy-force of DoS-DoD has unrealized potential while our persuasion is poorly integrated with our coercion. May I give one real-world example of lousy coordination? During an assessment in one country which shall remain nameless I sought out the local PRT on a base which shall remain nameless. I wanted to gauge their level of integration and asked what sort of coordination they had with PRT HQ in the capital.

The response? "We don't coordinate with them. They give us a budget and trust us to use it on the right initiatives." In other words, everyone is doing his or her very best...but without coordination our very best results in excess redundancy, wide seams, and wasted resources. And let us not forget that one of our resources is human life.

Quick caveat - this was ONE PRT on ONE base. I have no idea whether it is indicative of the overall system and I would never presume to condemn such. I will, however, declare that this grievous dis-integration is prevalent over my quarter century in war and peace with the DoD, DoS and IC. It's been the one constant, in my observation, that thrives without regard for administration, economy or enemy.