Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, 7th Annual Seminar on Peace Operations

摘要

Unrest around the world has increased since the end of the Cold War. International analysts attribute this increase in global crises to two factors: the reduction of competition between the East and the West and the end of colonialism. Essentially, Cold War tensions kept a lid on potential crises. Consequently, the 1990s saw a marked increase in small wars. Some were cross- border wars, but many were civil wars in which conditions for large-scale humanitarian catastrophes occurred. With the United States as the sole remaining super power, many nations look to it for leadership to solve these problems. American participation in operations (Somalia, Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Haiti, Kosovo, and East Timor) demonstrated a need for an integrated U.S. approach to these complex crises. The Chairman decided to focus this year's seminar on interagency planning and coordination to address the changing nature of complex crises since the end of the Cold War. In the past only rudimentary steps had been taken to synchronize all elements of national power toward a crisis. Concepts such as an interagency coordination committee and comprehensive political-military (Pol-Mil) plans were discussed, but only occasionally implemented. Thus, it was in the Chairman's desire to assist the new administration in solidifying its thoughts and processes toward the management of complex contingencies. From 10-12 July 2001, the U.S. Army Peacekeeping Institute in conjunction with the National Defense University hosted the 7th annual Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff seminar on peace operations. The goals of the seminar were to outline a simple, yet useable format for the initial national security guidance paper; discuss political- military plans and devise a methodology for bringing together the work of all departments in the U.S. Government; and develop methods for educating members of the interagency team and mechanisms for reviewing past crises to garner lessons learned.