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  1. #1
    Council Member Beelzebubalicious's Avatar
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    Default Resilience

    The word/concept of "resilience" is appearing with more and more frequency lately, the latest in an article by Thomas Barnett titled, "The New Rules: Putting Resilience at the Heart of Nation-Building". There was also an interesting short article on resilience in Foreign Policy Magazine recently, titled, "The Next Big Thing: Resilience".

    I have noticed that the word resilience has come up a lot recently in the literature on fragile states and fragility, most importantly in the OECD Fragile States Working Group paper titled, "From Fragility to Resilience: Concepts and Dilemmas of Statebuilding in Fragile States" .

    In this paper, I was especially struck by the inclusion of “citizen expectations” and how often I heard that high expectations are a major problem in post-conflict countries (matched with government’s inability to deliver services at the local level). In many societies, Liberia being one, resilience is a major factor in preventing further conflict. Here are some quotes from that report that highlight this approach:

    "We presume the opposite of fragility not to be stability, though this has often been the goal of external actors, but rather resilience – or the ability to cope with changes in capacity, effectiveness, or legitimacy. Resilience, we argue, therefore derives from a combination of capacity and resources, effective institutions, and legitimacy, all of which are underpinned by political processes which mediate state-society relations and expectations. ". Page 2.

    “The central contention of this paper is that fragility arises primarily from weaknesses in the dynamic political process through which citizens’ expectations of the state and state expectations of citizens are reconciled and brought into equilibrium with the state’s capacity to deliver services. Reaching equilibrium in this negotiation over the ‘social contract’ is the critical, if not the sole, determinant of resilience, and disequilibrium the determinant of fragility.” Page 3.

    Barnett states that "The new rules for national security lie in making this notion of resilience central to the broader shifts in emphasis at both Defense and State. We must develop the ability to shift seamlessly from predation to protection, or from simply hunting down bad guys to making communities, societies, and regions more resilient in this age of globalization."

    To some extent, this feels like a new term for the same old stuff, but I do think that terminology matters and I've always had a hard time with the term "stability" or even "sustainability". Resilience also connotes that a society is not resilience and we somehow need to build resilience. Again, the wrong approach. If we stop talking about what's not there and start noticing what is there (amazingly resilient, flexible and innovative societies that do a damn good job dealing with conflict, not to mention external intervention in their countries).

  2. #2
    Council Member Stan's Avatar
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    Default By Afrcan Standards, Naive at best

    Hey Eric,
    Thanks for the links !

    ... definition of a fragile state, simply, as one unable to meet its citizens’ expectations or manage changes in expectations and capacity through the political process.
    If that were all it took to meet the definitions of a fragile State in Africa. There's little that I could gain from this in order to prepare for a tour in Sub-Sahara in any capacity even today. After more than 14 years, I could barely apply the same logic here.
    Quote Originally Posted by Beelzebubalicious View Post
    If we stop talking about what's not there and start noticing what is there
    Concur. Not too sure why we can't see beyond our political means/methods. But then, being part of a Country Team never made much sense to me
    If you want to blend in, take the bus

  3. #3
    Council Member Fuchs's Avatar
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    Default

    This "resilience" talk is redundant. John Robb* is totally in love with it, but resilience isn't much more than modesty, common sense and competence.

    It's completely redundant to other virtues that are well-known.

    The "resilience" buzz is useless spiel.




    *:
    http://www.google.com/search?as_q=re...ghts=&safe=off
    Last edited by Fuchs; 08-03-2009 at 09:42 PM. Reason: added link

  4. #4
    Council Member Ken White's Avatar
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    Default Agree.

    I'd add stamina and refusal to quit to your list. Resilience suggests that people be people. How innovative...

  5. #5
    i pwnd ur ooda loop selil's Avatar
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    Default

    Disagree. Resilience is an excellent topic in a variety of theaters. The opposite though of resilience is not fragile it is brittle. Something can be incredibly strong (like an oak tree), but if it is brittle it will shatter under force.

    Resilience as a concept is a precursor to much of the discussion on sustainability and military concepts such as force protection.

    Resilience as an ideology is a much broader set of concepts than John Robb and others have discussed. Often pigeon holed resilience refers to societal rather than simple military matters. A resilient society can withstand privation and sacrifice much more than a "just in time" inventory society with levels and depths of brittle systems built upon each others.

    Similarly the use of of contractors in the battlespace and substantial reliance on high cost weapons systems may appear to be effective but increase the brittle nature of conduct of war. Overcoming or adapting may be sexy to scream as mantras but if the systems were resilient in the first place would be unnecessary.

    In the end resilience admonition to societies from a variety of angles and to people directly that survival is about more than having a McDonalds available in time of disaster.
    Sam Liles
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  6. #6
    Council Member Ken White's Avatar
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    Default I see and agree with some of what you what you wrote.

    Quote Originally Posted by selil View Post
    Disagree. Resilience is an excellent topic in a variety of theaters. The opposite though of resilience is not fragile it is brittle. Something can be incredibly strong (like an oak tree), but if it is brittle it will shatter under force.
    Agree.
    Resilience as a concept is a precursor to much of the discussion on sustainability and military concepts such as force protection.
    True but I disagree with the concept (not that anyone cares...) because it leads to esoteric discussions instead of concentration on issues.
    A resilient society can withstand privation and sacrifice much more than a "just in time" inventory society with levels and depths of brittle systems built upon each others.
    Granted on the effect -- how either Society responds though is the indicator of their real 'resilience.' Also note that 'not just in time' society may surprise you with their resilience in spite of the massive change in their norms.
    Similarly the use of of contractors in the battlespace and substantial reliance on high cost weapons systems may appear to be effective but increase the brittle nature of conduct of war.
    The 'resilience' is shown by how that force functions without contractors should they be abruptly removed. My suspicion is they would do far better than the Contractors would like to believe
    Overcoming or adapting may be sexy to scream as mantras but if the systems were resilient in the first place would be unnecessary.
    You may use resiliency; I'd prefer reliable and redundant; not the same things
    In the end resilience admonition to societies from a variety of angles and to people directly that survival is about more than having a McDonalds available in time of disaster.
    One would hope so. Don't think I've been to a McDonalds in over 10 years.

    I get the point, Sam -- and do not disagree with the broad context. I do, however, believe that 'resilience' is built in to military structures and to people in general. That and I shudder every time a new term du jour pops up...

  7. #7
    Council Member Fuchs's Avatar
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by selil View Post
    Disagree. Resilience is an excellent topic in a variety of theaters.
    I challenge you to name one instance where "resilience" as a concept helps to gain an insight that isn't already covered by conventional means.

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