U.S. ARMY COL. (RET.) WILLIAM FLAVIN PEACEKEEPING & STABILITY OPERATIONS INSTITUTE
Peacekeeping and stability operations present opportunities as well as obstacles
Societies trying to negotiate a path between conflict and peace rarely can rely upon ready-made road maps.
That endeavor is complicated by the fact that conflicts emerge not from any one spark but from smoldering embers fanned into destructive flames. In Syria, for example, what started as protests calling for political reform during the Arab Spring in 2011 escalated into an all-out civil war that now includes terrorist exploitation, sectarian violence and a regional refugee crisis. Syrian instability then spilled across the border to Iraq, causing further turmoil and violence.
Such tragedies illustrate the need for all-encompassing efforts to address conflicts and maintain peace. With 31 years of service in the Army, I appreciate the military’s role in peacekeeping and stability operations. However, military might alone cannot achieve peace, nor can isolated efforts by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), government agencies and international bodies. Stakeholders must act in concert to coordinate aid, solve problems and strengthen security.
Fragile and failing states will continue to generate conflict in the future. We’ve seen how a lack of governance in Somalia allowed criminals to create a base for piracy operations at sea, wreaking havoc on global commerce. In Afghanistan, the Taliban’s pervasive extremism has had a profound impact at the local, regional and global levels by breeding intolerance, violence and terrorism.
As an essential component of preventing and mitigating conflict, militaries around the world must become skilled in peace and stability operations. Traditionally, militaries have focused on identifying and defeating physical threats. Of course, Soldiers must continue to fulfill that role, but force alone won’t bring about long-term peace. The wider dimensions to any conflict — including economic, political, religious and societal problems — must also be addressed. Solutions require looking beyond current hostilities to identify opportunities to address roots of the conflict.
Some countries have taken an active global role in this respect. For these forces, creative diplomacy matters just as much as tactical training. Pakistan, for example, is the second largest contributor to United Nations peacekeeping forces, providing about 8,480 military, police and civilian experts annually according to 2015 statistics. Jordan contributes about 1,680 personnel to U.N. peacekeeping missions around the world.
Barriers to Peace
Multifaceted conflicts are not easily overcome. Issues such as dwindling natural resources, large youth bulge populations, poverty, corruption and criminal and terrorist networks have played major roles in recent conflicts and have proven difficult to resolve. These challenges are not new — crime, corruption and terrorism have troubled the world for centuries — but these threats have become more transnational, and enemies are employing sophisticated technology to their advantage.
Another obstacle to peace is that militaries in some places leave the impression that they exist to serve elite leaders and institutions, not entire populations. This breeds distrust and discontent, giving extremists and terrorists the opportunity to exploit the situation to recruit new members and undermine stability. One way to fix this problem is through increasing the professionalism of forces, but that’s not the only answer.
In other cases, the military may wield a heavy hand in managing a conflict or holding territory. As a long-term stability-building strategy, this can only be a temporary solution. It takes the expertise and actions of government, NGOs, business and other organizations to address societal problems that extend far beyond a single act of violence.
But even cooperation between military and civilian agencies presents challenges. Uniting divergent stakeholders — Soldiers, diplomats, religious leaders, donor organizations — to pursue common goals has not always been easy.
Opportunities
Despite what may seem like overwhelming challenges to peace, there is much opportunity to leverage.
While enemies have employed technology to raise money, spread propaganda and recruit and coordinate attacks, we can use that same technology to encourage peace and support stability across the world. Even in remote regions, populations are quickly becoming accustomed to using the Internet and other information technology.
This is an opportunity that has been harnessed during natural disasters such as the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Amid the devastation, aid workers used social media websites and applications to distribute aid across the country. This technology also allowed workers to share and swap supplies, health information and security concerns. Disaster responders and aid workers were able to get information more quickly and respond more effectively to help earthquake victims.
Sometimes this technology improves society in more subtle ways. In East Africa, cellphones were provided to fishermen to help them navigate changing markets and increase profits. Before they were equipped with the phones, fisherman would all show up at the same marketplace, causing a glut in the supply of fish. Cellphone technology allowed the fishermen to improve coordination so that they could profitably sell their catch in previously underserved markets.
This simple example illustrates another point: Cooperation — even among informal social institutions — helps strengthen communities. The same concept also applies to women’s rights issues. Societies that ignore the social and economic potential of half their populations are societies that ignore opportunities to build a greater future. Women who are supported by their communities end up strengthening their communities.
We must look across the spectrum to find solutions that will be transformative and build a fully functional civil society. By working together, military and civil agencies can accomplish much. One source of skilled talent is special operations forces, which have plenty of experience in civil-military operations and nonkinetic actions that build stability by addressing the drivers of conflict.
One way for militaries to prepare themselves is by taking part in exercises with civilian and government agencies, as well as with forces from other countries. It’s a vital way to share best practices, overcome interoperability barriers and prepare to handle terrorist strikes, natural disasters, refugee crises, cyber attacks and other scenarios.
Sharing Knowledge
As assistant director of the U.S. Army’s Peacekeeping & Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI), I am involved in many international collaborations taking place to support peace. Created more than 20 years ago, PKSOI was designed as a resource to help forces overcome the negative consequences of complex conflicts.
PKSOI includes representatives from civil and military agencies, the U.S. State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, foreign militaries, academic and nongovernmental institutions. The idea is to have a diverse team to develop lessons learned, influence Army and joint doctrine and provide expertise to the military regarding stability operations. PKSOI also participates in and supports military exercises, such as the U.S. Central Command Regional Cooperation 2014 exercise that included representatives from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Pakistan and Tajikistan.
PKSOI teaches courses and conducts collaborative research with the subject matter experts resident at the U.S. Army War College.
We write doctrine for the U.S. and produce handbooks to provide guidance for tactics, techniques and procedures regarding the protection of civilians, addressing child soldiers and other topics related to peacekeeping and stability.
One of the many collaborations taking place at PKSOI is happening with the Challenges Forum working group on Comparative Policies, Principles and Guidelines. The group seeks to understand current conditions and frictions that are barriers to peace so that they can develop techniques and procedures that will solve these problems.
Another recent outreach event occurred in early 2014, when PKSOI sent teams to work with the U.S. Embassy in Jordan, assisting them with planning to help Jordan with a massive influx of refugees stemming from conflicts in Syria.
Although we have made much progress to facilitate peace and stability at PKSOI and across the world, much still needs to be done. The path to peace is strewn with obstacles. International cooperation will be tested. But it is necessary to overcome threats to stability.
To advance our mission of peace, we must foster and encourage dialogue, cooperation and partnership. We invite military professionals, security experts, scholars and other stakeholders to share their success stories, innovative strategies for stability and peace and opportunities for the future. Please feel free share your input with PKSOI and Unipath magazine so that, together, we can strengthen our efforts and achieve success.
Comments are closed.