All posts by PKSOI

In this guide, the authors provide a set of principles and operational guidelines for peacekeepers to help the country restore public infrastructure and services. The extent to which public sector reconstruction takes place is a function of the mission, the level of resources, expertise of the troops, and the host country context. The guide provides courses of action to both planners and practitioners in executing these operations and supplements existing and emerging documents. The material here draws from both theoretical and analytical frameworks as well as from the experience and lessons learned from practitioners.

The manual focuses on host nation outcomes, not programmatic inputs or outputs. It is focused primarily on what the host nation and international actors are trying to achieve, not how they are trying to achieve it at the tactical level. It is not about how to conduct an election or disarm warring parties—it is about the outcomes that these activities support. Excellent “how-to” guides already exist across the U.S. government and partner institutions. These should be accessed regularly and used diligently in the conduct of these missions.

This guide focuses on the military’s role in rebuilding and establishing a functional, effective, and legitimate nation-state; one that can assure security and stability for its citizens, defend its borders, deliver services effectively for its populace, and is responsible and accountable to its citizens. Neither a handbook nor a checklist, the document provides a comprehensive approach to planning and implementing a program to rebuild governance by U.S. peacekeeping forces during stability operations.

This publication updates the Institute’s highly successful Guide to IGOs, NGOs, and the Military in Peace and Relief Operations, which was based on peace operations in the Balkans following the Cold War. This edition reflects the operations that have occurred since 2000, particularly those in Iraq and Afghanistan and the response to the 2004 Asian tsunami. Its purpose is to help military and civilian personnel understand peace, stability, and relief operations so they can work more effectively.

Foreword by Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster (USA) Director, Army Capabilities Integration Center and Deputy Commanding General, Futures, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.

The case studies and analyses in this volume make clear that understanding the dynamics associated with illicit power and state weakness is essential to preventing or resolving armed conflict. These case studies also point out that confronting illicit power requires coping with political and human dynamics in complex, uncertain environments. People fight today for the same fundamental reasons the Greek historian Thucydides identified nearly 2,500 years ago: fear, honor and interests.By Edited by Michael Miklaucic and Michelle Hughes

The Protection of Civilians (PoC) Military Reference Guide is primarily intended for military commanders and staffs who must consider PoC during armed conflict, multidimensional peace operations, or other military operations, particularly when PoC is an operational or strategic objective. It is designed as a supplement to existing doctrine and other relevant guidance so that military forces can meet their obligations to protect civilians. The reference guide may also be used as a textbook for PoC training.

This edition of the PKSOI Lessons Learned Report explores the challenges and complexities of Consolidating Gains, an Army strategic role that sets conditions for enduring political and strategic outcomes to military operations. (p. 3-5, ADP 3-0, Operations) Consolidating gains is integral to the conclusion of all military operations, and it requires deliberate planning, preparation, and resources to ensure sustainable success. This planning should ensure US forces operate in a way that actively facilitates achievement of the desired post-hostilities end state and transition of control to legitimate authorities.

This quarter’s SOLLIMS Lesson Learned Report theme is partnering.  Partnering is a broad concept in peacekeeping and stability operations, ranging from informal cooperation between aiding organizations and local authorities, to the doctrinal concepts embodied in Joint Publication JP 3-20 Security Cooperation. 

This Strategic Planning for Peackeeping and Stability Operations (PSO) Lessons Learned Report supports the release of Army Doctrine Publication ADP 3-07, Stability in July, 2019. As stated in ADP 1 The Army “organizes, trains,and equips the force to conduct offensive, defensive, and stability operations . . .” (ADP 3-07, p. v) overseas as part of, unified land operations, the Army’s contribution to the conduct of joint operations, or Unified Action. “Stability is the set of conditions in which a local populace regards its governance institutions as legitimate and its living situation as acceptable and predictable.” (ADP 3-07, p. 1-1)

This PKSOI Lesson Report: June 2019 Conflict Prevention report uses a unique organizational approach. Rather than a conventional chronological or topical style, we’ve opted to present a lead lesson based on a study by the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) entitled “Preventing Extremism in Fragile States: A New Approach.” Supported by the analysis and recommendations presented in the study, a bipartisan group of Congress members recently introduced the Global Fragility Act of 2019 bill that requires the Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Depart-ment of Defense to coordinate on a global initiative aimed at stabilizing conflict affected areas and preventing the violence and fragility that allow terrorists, criminal networks, and war lords to take hold in the first place.