Soft Power of Defence Diplomacy: A New Approach ... - ISIS Malaysia

9development and extremism challenges in its area of operation especially in thecontext of the problem of fragile states such as Myanmar. 29Rise of the Soldier-DiplomatThis in turn led to the changing nature of the missions and the perceptions of what itmeans to be a soldier. Unlike most Cold War missions, which were either combat ornon-combat in nature, peacebuilding or stability operations require military forces toboth fulfil combat and non-combat functions and coordinate their efforts with partnermilitaries and a host of civilian relief organizations. 30Therefore, a new conception of military professionalism that emphasizes broadversatility instead of narrow expertise was developed. It was based on the so-calledThree-D Approach (Defence (National Security), Development (Human Security),Diplomacy (Collective Security) of the concept of Hybrid Warfare developed by thePentagon and the concept of Sustainable Security linking national security, humansecurity and collective security developed by the Center for American Progress (CAP)that reflects the growing contemporary reality of military-diplomatic fusion in thedomain of security cooperation reflected in two developments concerning civilmilitaryrelations. 31The first one is the “politicization of wars and the militarization of diplomacy” in theform of military governance. There are recent calls within the US for the reopening ofSchools of Military Government that existed during World War II. Abroad, in conflictzones such as Afghanistan and Iraq, the US military is increasingly exercisinginformal “civilians control by the military” due to the plethora of civilian actorsworking at cross purposes leaving the military as the only credible chain of command.In addition, security cooperation which covers a whole range of activities fromforeign policy to capacity building are not just non-combat operations as they are alsohighly political activities. At the high end, regional commanders have greaterresources and influence than any ambassadors, and in some parts of the world aregenuine proconsuls who can bypass the whole diplomatic hierarchy. 32The US concept of Hybrid Warfare shows remarkable similarities with Myanmar’sdomestic military norm based on the dual functions of its military in civilian andmilitary affairs. The Myanmar National Defence College publication from 2005reveals that Myanmar’s military defines its new professionalism as a military withextended competencies and skills that go far beyond the management of violence dueto its self-assigned roles as state and nation builders who has to run the state andeconomy and therefore tries to equip its officers with a variety of expertise in political,economic and social matters. These officers are not only military professionals but29 Ibid.30 Franke, Volker, The Peacebuilding Dilemma: Civil-Military Cooperation in Stability Operations,International Journal of Peace Studies, Vol. 11, No. 2, Autumn/Winter 2006, p. 12.31 Corn, Tony, From War Manager to Soldier Diplomats: The Coming Revolution in Civil MilitaryRelations, Small Wars Journal, June 30, 2009., 12 June 2010;Smith, Gayle E., In Search of Sustainable Security: Linking National Security, Human Security andCollective Security to Protect America and Our World, Sustainable Security Series Paper. Center forAmerican Progress, 2008.32 Ibid.