Preparing Leaders for Nationbuilding; Journal article

摘要

In a recent article, author Robert Kaplan set forth 10 rules for 'Managing the World.' The first rule is 'Produce More Joppolos,' referring to Major Victor Joppolo, the protagonist of John Hersey's 1945 Pulitzer Prize- winning novel, 'A Bell for Adano.' In Kaplan's view, the fictional Major Joppolo can serve as the model for soldiers during military occupations and peacemaking operations. We clearly need more Joppolos, he says and asks, where are they. The United States has been waging the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) since shortly after 11 September 2001 and, arguably, has been unofficially at war with terrorists since the end of Operation Desert Storm. U.S. involvement in international conflicts in the past decade demonstrate that the U.S. Army needs leaders who can shift quickly from combat to stability operations and back again with an eye on winning both war and peace in the Islamic Middle East battlespace. The Army trains the force across the spectrum of conflict but focuses most of its training efforts on high-intensity combat operations while ignoring training on cultural, civic, ethical, and city planning duties that soldiers must perform in Iraq and elsewhere. The Army must train its leaders to adapt to a fundamentally changed security environment. While the Cold War demanded Army leaders who could lead formations into battle, the new GWOT era demands leaders who can fight as well as their Cold War predecessors could but who can also transition quickly and effectively to stability operations and nation-building to defeat radical Islam and its proselytizing terrorists. The article discusses cultural awareness training, language training, officer exchange programs, law and civics training, public administration skills, and ethical treatment of prisoners.