PRISM, Vol 4, No 3
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VOL. 4, NO. 3 2013 A JOURNA L O F THE CEN TER F OR C O MPL EX O PER ATIONS About PRISM is published by the Center for Complex Operations. PRISM is a security studies journal chartered to inform members of U.S. Federal agencies, allies, Vol. 4, no. 3 2013 and other partners on complex and integrated national security operations; reconstruction and state-building; relevant policy and strategy; lessons learned; Editor and developments in training and education to transform America’s security Michael Miklaucic and development Associate Editors Mark D. Ducasse Stefano Santamato Communications Constructive comments and contributions are important to us. Direct Editorial Assistant communications to: Megan Cody Editor, PRISM Copy Editors 260 Fifth Avenue (Building 64, Room 3605) Dale Erikson Fort Lesley J. McNair Sara Thannhauser Washington, DC 20319 Nathan White Telephone: (202) 685-3442 Advisory Board FAX: Dr. Gordon Adams (202) 685-3581 Dr. Pauline H. Baker Email: [email protected] Ambassador Rick Barton Professor Alain Bauer Dr. Joseph J. Collins (ex officio) Ambassador James F. Dobbins Contributions Ambassador John E. Herbst (ex officio) PRISM welcomes submission of scholarly, independent research from security policymakers and shapers, security analysts, academic specialists, and civilians Dr. David Kilcullen from the United States and abroad. Submit articles for consideration to the Ambassador Jacques Paul Klein address above or by email to [email protected] with “Attention Submissions Dr. Roger B. Myerson Editor” in the subject line. Dr. Moisés Naím This is the authoritative, official U.S. Department of Defense edition of PRISM. MG William L. Nash, USA (Ret.) Any copyrighted portions of this journal may not be reproduced or extracted Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering without permission of the copyright proprietors. PRISM should be acknowledged Dr. William Reno whenever material is quoted from or based on its content. LtGen John F. Sattler, USMC (Ret.) The opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within Dr. James A. Schear are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Dr. Joanna Spear Department of Defense or any other agency of the Federal Government. Dr. Ruth Wedgwood ISSN 2157–0663 Special Feature 2 Remarks of U.S. President Barack Obama at National Defense University on May 23, 2013 Features 14 Securing the State: National Security and Secret Intelligence By David Omand 28 Military Leaders and Global Leaders: Contrasts, Contradictions, and Opportunities www.ndu.edu/press By Anthony J. DiBella 38 Redefining the Indirect Approach, Defining Special Operations Forces (SOF) Power, and the Global Networking of SOF By Scott Morrison 46 The Military in a Wicked World: A European Union Military Point of View By Bruce Williams 60 Addressing a Recurrent, Variable and Complex Challenge: The Uncertain Trajectory of Stabilization and Reconstruction in U.S. Security Strategy By Kari Möttölä 72 From Multilateral Champion to Handicapped Donor - And Back Again? By Nancy Birdsall and Alexis Sowa 88 Central America’s Northern Triangle: A Time for turmoil and Transitions By Douglas Farah 110 A US Asian-Pacific Pivot Point By Kirk Talbott, John Waugh, and Douglas Batson 126 Towards a Taxonomy of Militaries By Alan Doss, Jeffrey Herbst and Greg Mills From The Field 140 Joint Deployable Training Teams: Helping to Focus the Effort By Andrew Straley Lessons Learned 148 Response to the Decade of War By James Dobbins Interview 152 An Interview with Dennis Blair Book Review 160 The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War Reviewed by Jeff Rice Photo by NDU Audio Visual On Thursday, May 23, 2013, President Obama gave a televised speech at the National Defense University on the Administration’s counterterrorism policy Remarks of U.S. President Barack Obama at National Defense University May 23, 2013 t’s an honor to return to the National Defense University. Here, at Fort McNair, Americans have served in uniform since 1791– standing guard in the early days of the Republic, and contemplating Ithe future of warfare here in the 21st century. For over two centuries, the United States has we were shaken out of complacency. Thousands been bound together by founding documents that were taken from us, as clouds of fire, metal and defined who we are as Americans, and served as our ash descended upon a sun-filled morning. This compass through every type of change. Matters was a different kind of war. No armies came to of war and peace are no different. Americans are our shores, and our military was not the principal deeply ambivalent about war, but having fought target. Instead, a group of terrorists came to kill as for our independence, we know that a price must many civilians as they could. be paid for freedom. From the Civil War, to our And so our nation went to war. We have now struggle against fascism, and through the long, been at war for well over a decade. I won’t review the twilight struggle of the Cold War, battlefields have full history. What’s clear is that we quickly drove changed, and technology has evolved. But our al Qaeda out of Afghanistan, but then shifted our commitment to Constitutional principles has focus and began a new war in Iraq. This carried weathered every war, and every war has come to grave consequences for our fight against al Qaeda, an end. our standing in the world, and – to this day – our With the collapse of the Berlin Wall, a new interests in a vital region. dawn of democracy took hold abroad, and a Meanwhile, we strengthened our defenses decade of peace and prosperity arrived at home. – hardening targets, tightening transportation For a moment, it seemed the 21st century would security, and giving law enforcement new tools be a tranquil time. Then, on September 11th 2001, to prevent terror. Most of these changes were PRISM 4, NO. 3 SPECIAL FEATURE | 3 OBAMA sound. Some caused inconvenience. But some, like home. From our use of drones to the detention expanded surveillance, raised difficult questions of terrorist suspects, the decisions we are making about the balance we strike between our interests will define the type of nation – and world – that we in security and our values of privacy. And in some leave to our children. cases, I believe we compromised our basic values – So America is at a crossroads. We must define by using torture to interrogate our enemies, and the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will detaining individuals in a way that ran counter to define us, mindful of James Madison’s warning the rule of law. that “No nation could preserve its freedom in the After I took office, we stepped up the war midst of continual warfare.” Neither I, nor any against al Qaeda, but also sought to change its President, can promise the total defeat of terror. course. We relentlessly targeted al Qaeda’s lead- We will never erase the evil that lies in the hearts of ership. We ended the war in Iraq, and brought some human beings, nor stamp out every danger nearly 150,000 troops home. We pursued a new to our open society. What we can do – what we strategy in Afghanistan, and increased our training must do – is dismantle networks that pose a direct of Afghan forces. We unequivocally banned tor- danger, and make it less likely for new groups to ture, affirmed our commitment to civilian courts, gain a foothold, all while maintaining the free- worked to align our policies with the rule of law, doms and ideals that we defend. To define that and expanded our consultations with Congress. strategy, we must make decisions based not on Today, Osama bin Laden is dead, and so are fear, but hard-earned wisdom. And that begins most of his top lieutenants. There have been no with understanding the threat we face. large-scale attacks on the United States, and our Today, the core of al Qaeda in Afghanistan homeland is more secure. Fewer of our troops and Pakistan is on a path to defeat. Their remain- are in harm’s way, and over the next 19 months ing operatives spend more time thinking about they will continue to come home. Our alliances their own safety than plotting against us. They did are strong, and so is our standing in the world. In not direct the attacks in Benghazi or Boston. They sum, we are safer because of our efforts. have not carried out a successful attack on our Now make no mistake: our nation is still homeland since 9/11/2001. Instead, what we’ve threatened by terrorists. From Benghazi to Boston, seen is the emergence of various al Qaeda affili- we have been tragically reminded of that truth. ates. From Yemen to Iraq, from Somalia to North We must recognize, however, that the threat has Africa, the threat today is more diffuse, with Al shifted and evolved from the one that came to our Qaeda’s affiliate in the Arabian Peninsula – AQAP shores on 9/11/2001. With a decade of experience –the most active in plotting against our homeland. to draw from, now is the time to ask ourselves hard While none of AQAP’s efforts approach the scale questions – about the nature of today’s threats, of 9/11/2001, they have continued to plot acts of and how we should confront them. terror, like the attempt to blow up an airplane on These questions matter to every American. Christmas Day in 2009. For over the last decade, our nation has spent well Unrest in the Arab World has also allowed over a trillion dollars on war, exploding our deficits extremists to gain a foothold in countries like Libya and constraining our ability to nation build here and Syria.