Square-Dancing into the Future: The U.S. Military/NGO Relationship and the CMOCin Times of Humanitarian Intervention

摘要

This thesis focuses on the U.S. military/Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)relationship in times of humanitarian intervention. Specifically, it examines the Civil Military Operations Center (CMOC), or the variant thereof, and its ability to facilitate collaboration and coordination between the two communities. Accordingly, this work examines the relationship in the following four case studies: (1) Operation Provide Comfort (southeast Turkey, northern Iraq, April 1991); (2) Operation Sea Angel (Bangladesh, May 1991); (3) Operation Restore Hope (Somalia, December 1992); and (4) Operation Restore Hope (Rwanda, July 1994). While no case is exactly the same, conceptual themes have emerged. Humanitarian intervention is a political process. There is a continuum of effort. Each community should generally operate according to its comparative advantage. The principle of altruistic self-interest governs the relationship: it must be mutually beneficial in order to succeed. The successful CMOC is not so much a designated spot as much as it is a function of personnel living and working together. It is the military's only institutional means to provide feedback on whether or not the humanitarian mandate is being met. During humanitarian interventions, it should be the focus of the military's effort.