In preparing for possible future military interventions, the United States needs to shift substantial resources to the Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development, and military-civilian efforts must be integrated from top to bottom, according to a new report issued today by a group of veteran government and private-sector leaders.
The report also recommends delegating spending authority to the field level and requiring that civilians and military officers gain extensive cross-agency experience in one another's disciplines.
The report was developed to provide a set of national security recommendations to the incoming presidential administration and new Congress. The effort was led by the RAND Corporation and the American Academy of Diplomacy.
"These recommendations offer practical guidelines for the nation's next administration to deal effectively with the kinds of U.S. military interventions – and their aftermath – that have become prevalent," said Robert Hunter, former U.S. ambassador to NATO, the report's lead author and a senior advisor at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.
Hunter said the report also serves as a blueprint for implementing proposals made by U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to have "robust civilian capabilities available [that] could make it less likely that military force will have to be used in the first place."
The report, "Integrating Instruments of Power and Influence: Lessons Learned and Best Practices," was prepared by a high-level panel of 67 U.S. and European senior practitioners from both civilian and military posts. The report draws lessons both for the U.S. government and NATO from experience in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sponsors say the panel's recommendations can be implemented without changing the National Security Act and without major legislation -- except to increase funding for non-military national security activities. Recommendations are meant to be practical and able to be implemented rapidly by an administration and Congress that will take office in January 2009.
Some of the Report's key conclusions include:
In addition to Hunter, other co-chairmen of the effort include Edward Gnehm, former U.S. ambassador to Jordon and now with George Washington University, and retired Gen. George Joulwan, former supreme allied commander Europe and commander-in-chief, U.S. Southern Command. Christopher Chivvis of RAND was project rapporteur. The report is available at www.rand.org .
The report was prepared by the RAND National Security Research Division, which conducts research and analysis for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combat Commands, the defense agencies, the Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps and the U.S. intelligence community.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. To sign up for RAND e-mail alerts: http://www.rand.org/publications/email.html