Welcome to the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute
Mission
"Serve as the US Military's Premier Center of Excellence for mastering stability and peace operations at the strategic and operational levels in the order to improve military, civilian agency, international, and multinational capabilities and execution."
Afghanistan Trip Report - Author Bing West, "Having recently returned from Afghanistan – thanks to the hospitality of Generals Petraeus and McChrystal - I’d like to share a few thoughts. By way of context, let me state my frame of reference. As a former assistant secretary of defense for international security, I am familiar with Washington dynamics; but I believe COIN is decided at the small unit level, not in national capitals." (Click here to read more.) Courtesy of Small Wars Journal.
Civil Power in Irregular Conflict - This article explores the civil components of four key activities in managing irregular conflict: support to governance, security sector reform (SSR), promoting economic development, and reconciliation. It articulates the outcomes of a series of events beginning in 2008 with workshops on Governance, SSR and Economic Development, culminating in a broader conference in Washington, D.C., on Building Capacity in Stability Operations in April of 2009, sponsored by PKSOI, CNA, and the Association of the United States Army (AUSA). The article will be followed by a book under the same title, to be published in November of 2009 by CNA, PKSOI and AUSA, which will provide a more comprehensive treatment of the subject matter.
The article argues that without effectively pursuing the civil component of stabilization and reconstruction, in measured and achievable ways, military efforts to control irregular conflict are unlikely to be successful. An integrated strategy is critical to success in irregular conflict, focusing on developing the host nation as the end goal, and supported with adequate resources. Successful efforts to manage irregular conflict must combine, synergistically, military operations with the civil elements of governance, non-military security, economics and reconciliation.
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PKSOI 2009 Training and Education Workshop CD - Download the complete CD containing all of the PKSOI 2009 Training and Education Workshop briefings and documents. (click here)
PKSOI Bulletin Volume 2 Issue 1 release - One year ago, we introduced this Bulletin with the near simultaneous release of the U.S. Army's FM 3-07, Stability Operations. Each quarterly edition since that time explored a particular theme that we believed would highlight or educate the peace and stability operations community while we absorbed and began implementation of our new military doctrine. To start the second year of the Bulletin, we decided to focus on "Mainstreaming Stability Operations." However, as our authors began to submit their work it became apparent that as a community we are still defining what that means with little consensus concerning how we best accomplish this. (click here to go to the bulletin)
Integrating Civilian Agencies in Stability Operations - Rand Corporation released a report by Thomas S. Szayna, Derek Eaton, James E. Barnett, Brooke Stearns Lawson, Terrence K. Kelly, and Zachary Haldeman. (click here to go Rand.org to download)
PKSOI 2009 Training and Education Workshop-PKSOI will hold our annual Training and Education workshop at the National Defense University in DC from 27-29 OCT 09. The workshop provides an opportunity for practitioners to share in the development and refinement of curriculum to train and educate their employees based on emerging doctrine and policies. (click here to read more)
Guiding Principles for Stabilization and Reconstruction - United States Institute of Peace released on Wednesday, 7 OCT 09, the Guiding Principles for Stabilization, which was co-developed and jointly funded by PKSOI. The publication is expected to greatly enhance interagency cooperation, while creating a baseline for future interagency doctrine. (click here to read)
UN Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel, Report of the Secretary-General (Click here to read)
From crisis response to state building: services and stability in conflict-affected contexts(Click here to read)
Articles with insights on the Afghanistan/Iraq conflict. A speech from Dr Kagan, a response from Jeff Dressler on George Will's controversial opinion, and Dr. Kagan Why the Taliban are Winning -- for now, Afghanistan's Ethno-Linguistic Groups, Wrapping Up Operations in Iraq, Best Practices in counterinsurgency: Iraq as a Primer (Click here to read articles)
Officials Fine-Tune Bush-Era Risk Management Model for Obama's QDR. Pentagon officials continue to fine-tune Bush-era risk management framework for the Defense Department that will underpin many of the Quadrennial Defense Review's conclusions, according to defense officials. (Read the full INSIDEDEFENSE.com article with input from PKSOI's own Professor Nate Freier)
U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan. The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan tells President Obama we need a shift in strategy in the eight-year war. Analysis of the challenges facing U.S. forces and continuing turmoil over elections results in Afghanistan. This Public Radio debate hosted on the Diane Rehm Show invites several Subject Matter Experts including PKSOI's own Professor Nate Freier to discuss this timely topic. (Click here to go to site)
A Risk-Management Approach to Afghanistan?Professor Nathan Freier answers Critical Questions in this Center for Strategic and International Studies interview.(Click here to read)
Continuing Promise 2009 Mission Journal.Commander Bruno Himmler, MD is a member of the active component of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) and currently serves as the Health and Humanitarian Assistance Advisor for PKSOI at the U.S. Army War College. CDR Himmler is serving aboard USNS COMFORT as a Medical Doctor assigned to a medical team with primary focus to provide a range of health services ashore. Follow CDR Himmler's mission thru his journal and learn more about Operation Continuing Promise. (Click here to read more)
The Next Twelve Months in Afghanistan and Pakistan. As of mid-2009, the situation in both Afghanistan and Pakistan is dire and getting worse. In both countries, strategies must be adopted which recognize the state of the insurgency today. That means adopting a form of triage-utilizing an ink blot approach at the strategic and operational levels-which prioritizes the security of the population over other considerations while setting the stage for strengthening the institutions of the Afghan and Pakistani states. (Click here to read more)
