Winning Hearts and Minds? - Tufts - Tufts University

of stability operations asa core U.S. military mission that the Department ofDefense shall be prepared to conduct and support.They shall be given priority comparable to combatoperations and be explicitly addressed and integratedacross all DOD activities including doctrine,organizations, training, education, exercises,materiel, leadership, personnel, facilities, andplanning. 21The directive emphasized that “stabilityoperations were likely to be more important tothe lasting success of military operations thantraditional combat operations” and “elevatedstability operations to a status equal to that of theoffense and defense.” 22 This represented asignificant reorientation of the U.S. military’straditional focus on “warfighting.”More recently, this emphasis on the identificationof instability in other states as a threat to U.S.interests was reflected in both the 2008 NationalDefense Strategy and the 2010 QuadrennialDefense Review (QDR), which noted that“preventing conflict, stabilizing crises, andbuilding security sector capacity are essentialelements of America’s national securityapproach.” 23 Understandably, this thinking hasplayed an important role in driving forcepreparations within the DOD, strengthening thesignificance of stability operations andbroadening the range of competencies thatwould be required in a future U.S. military.The changing emphasis in the U.S. is alsoconsistent with the changing nature of UNpeacekeeping missions, increasinglycharacterized by complex mandates spanning“immediate stabilization and protection ofcivilians to supporting humanitarian assistance,organizing elections, assisting the developmentof new political structures, engaging in securitysector reform, disarming, demobilizing andreintegrating former combatants and laying thefoundations of a lasting peace.” 24 This integrationof diplomatic, human rights, military, anddevelopment responses has been driven primarilyby the requirement to effectively consolidatefragile peace agreements and make the delicatetransition from war to a lasting peace 25 —thefragility of peace often being “ascribed to a lackof strategic, coordinated and sustainedinternational efforts.” 26 A significant amount ofliterature documents the increasing size andcomplexity of, particularly, the civiliancomponents of peace missions 27 (arguablybeginning with the deployment of the UNTAGmission in Namibia in 1989 28 ) and thediversification and growing importance ofnon-military tasks within UN mandates. Evenwhere the UN has deployed solely civilianmissions, their proximity and relationship tomilitary, peace-building, or state-buildingmissions in support of a government authorityhas raised the same issue for some critics: theassociation of humanitarian and developmentresponses with one of the belligerentsundermines the UN’s independence andneutrality.Despite the lack of evidence that “hearts andminds” activities can generate attitude orbehavior change, these broader strategic trends21“DOD, Directive 3000.05: Military Support for Stability, Security, Transition, and Reconstruction (SSTR) Operations” (November 28,2005). p.2. As noted on the next page, the directive also clarifies that DOD sees its role in U.S. government plans for SSTR as part ofinteragency partnerships.22FM 3-07, “Stability Operations,” p. vi.23Lauren Ploch, “Africa Command: U.S. Strategic Interests and the Role of the U.S. Military in Africa” (Congressional Research Service,July 22, 2011), http://opencrs.com/document/RL34003/24Espen Barth Eide, Anja Therese Kaspersen, Randolph Kent, and Karen von Hippel, “Report on Integrated Missions: PracticalPerspectives and Recommendations,” Independent Study for the Expanded UN ECHA Core Group (May 2005), p. 3.25“In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All,” A/59/2005 (March 21, 2005), paragraph 114.26Eide et al., “Report on Integrated Missions,” p. 3.27For more on the changing nature of peace operations, see Bruce Jones and Feryal Cherif, “Evolving Models of Peacekeeping: PolicyImplications and Responses,” (Center on International Cooperation, NYU, September 2003), http://www.peacekeepingbestpractices.unlb.org/.28The United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) was a UN peacekeeping force deployed in April 1989 with a very broadmission in the transition from then South-West Africa to an independent Namibia. See, United Nations, “Namibia – UNTAGBackground” (undated), http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/untagFT.htm.16Feinstein International Center