Quagmire: The Pentagon's Word for Nation Building - History, Military Capabilities, Panama, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Doctrine, Training, Force Structure, Why Soldiers Do Nation Building, Terrorism

Professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction, this unique book attempts to describe the military's performance in nation building, evaluating it in the context of strategic realities.

Chapter 2 will demonstrate that the military has a role in nation building. Chapters 3 will assess recent nation building operations and identify problems the military encountered. Chapter 4 will briefly discuss these problems and make recommendations for avoiding these pitfalls in future nation-building efforts. Chapter 5 will provide a brief conclusion.

An accepted, standardized definition does not exist for the term "nation building." Frequently, articles about nation building do not provide a definition, making it difficult to draw conclusions about the author's intended meaning. However, there seems to be a general understanding that "nation building" means just what it says. A definition for nation building does not exist in current military publications either, and in fact, the term "nation building" is not used at all. By assiduously avoiding the term, the military may believe it can avoid the quagmire it associates with the term.

For purposes of this paper, nation building will be defined as security, governance, humanitarian, and infrastructure/economic assistance rendered to a nation to promote a stable society, founded upon a free market economy and a democratic government. Assistance may be provided during peacetime, crises, emergencies, war, insurgencies, or post-conflict reconstruction. This definition builds on the terms "nation assistance" and "peace building," as found in Joint Publication 3-07.2 These two terms were combined to provide an all-encompassing definition, covering the complete spectrum of military operations that could be considered part of nation building.

INTRODUCTION * WHY SOLDIERS DO NATION BUILDING * History of Nation Building * Today's Interests, Threats, and Strategy * Military Capabilities * The Opposing View * Conclusion * RECENT MILITARY EXPERIENCE IN NATION BUILDING * Panama - Just Cause * Somalia - Operation Restore Hope (UNITAF) and Operation Sustain Hope * (UNOSOM II) * Haiti - Operation Uphold Democracy * Bosnia - Operation Joint Endeavor * Conclusion * DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS * Policy & Strategy * Doctrine, Plans & Training * Doctrine * Planning * Training * Force Structure * Military Civil Relationship * It's Not My Job * CONCLUSION