Building Armies, Building Nations: Toward a New Approach to Security
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C O R P O R A T I O N Building Armies, Building Nations Toward a New Approach to Security Force Assistance Michael Shurkin, John Gordon IV, Bryan Frederick, Christopher G. Pernin For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR1832 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-0-8330-9741-5 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. © Copyright 2017 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface This report explores the relationship between armies and nation-build- ing and argues that U.S.-sponsored Security Force Assistance (SFA) might be improved were there less focus on force structure, military capabilities, and readiness, and more on ideology and the extent to which an army complements a host nation’s larger nation-building project. While SFA doctrine and comparable guidelines call for work- ing toward enhancing government legitimacy, this report argues that legitimacy is often a function of ideas, identities, and ideologies. Armies historically have played an important role by embodying and promot- ing specific ideas, identities, and ideologies, and otherwise by bridging the people with the nation. This report uses six case studies—three historic cases of large-scale U.S. SFA programs (South Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq) and three cases of attempts by postcolonial states (Ghana, Mali, and Nigeria) to invent themselves, with the military sometimes playing an important role—for the purpose of examining relationships between armies and nation-building and the potential role of SFA. The purpose of this report is to identify ways to improve SFA pro- vision. Recent events in Iraq as well as Mali have raised questions about the value of SFA and U.S. capacity to strengthen client states’ militaries in the face of insurgencies or other significant threats. While stopping short of policy prescription, this report is intended to suggest possible improvements to SFA by arguing for a different approach as well as to stimulate further debate and research. This research was sponsored by the Deputy Chief of Staff G-8, Army Quadrennial Defense Review Office, and conducted within the iii iv Building Armies, Building Nations RAND Arroyo Center’s Strategy, Doctrine, and Resources Program. RAND Arroyo Center, part of the RAND Corporation, is a feder- ally funded research and development center sponsored by the United States Army. The Project Unique Identification Code (PUIC) for the project that produced this document is HQD146835. Contents Preface ............................................................................. iii Figures ............................................................................. ix Tables .............................................................................. xi Summary .........................................................................xiii Acknowledgments ............................................................. xxv Abbreviations ..................................................................xxvii CHAPTER ONE Introduction ....................................................................... 1 Definitions .......................................................................... 4 Current Theory and Doctrine .................................................... 5 Nation-Building and Revolutions ...............................................12 Revolutionaries and Counter-Revolutionaries .................................29 Ideology and Cohesion ...........................................................32 Conclusion .........................................................................35 CHAPTER TWO The Army of the Republic of Korea and the U.S. Advisory Mission .....................................................37 A Nation Contested, 1945–1950 ............................................... 38 Nation-Building Under Rhee and Beyond .....................................39 The Republic of Korea Army ....................................................45 Korea’s Mixed Record ........................................................... 54 v CHAPTER THREE The Army of the Republic of Vietnam .......................................57 The Birth of South Vietnam .....................................................61 Making the ARVN in the American Image .................................. 66 From Vietnamization to Collapse ...............................................72 Why the ARVN Was Not the Nation-Building Force It Could Have Been ............................................................73 What MACV Got Wrong ....................................................... 90 Conclusion ........................................................................ 94 CHAPTER FOUR The Iraqi Army .................................................................. 97 1920–2003: Building the Nation, Contesting the State ..................... 97 2003–2014: Rebuilding the State, Dividing the Nation ................... 105 Conclusion ....................................................................... 124 CHAPTER FIVE The Ghanaian Army ........................................................... 129 Introduction ..................................................................... 129 Inventing Ghana ................................................................ 130 Falling Back to Earth ........................................................... 134 Moving Forward ................................................................ 139 Shapers of Normative Values .................................................. 141 A U.S. Role? ..................................................................... 150 Conclusion ....................................................................... 152 CHAPTER SIX The Malian Army .............................................................. 153 Background to Mali’s Conflicts: Diversity and National Identity ........ 155 Security Force Assistance Prior to 2012 ...................................... 168 Roots of Failure ................................................................. 172 Civic Education and Identity Formation ..................................... 174 Conclusion ....................................................................... 176 CHAPTER SEVEN The Nigerian Army ............................................................ 181 A History of Division ........................................................... 183 The Military and Nation-Building ............................................ 186 Conclusion ....................................................................... 199 CHAPTER EIGHT Conclusion ...................................................................... 201 Bibliography .................................................................... 207 vii Figures 1.1. The Ritual Planting of a Liberty Tree by French Revolutionaries with Blue, White, and Red Sashes and Cockades and Phrygian Caps .................................15 1.2. The Federation Festival Commemorating the Anniversary of the Fall of the Bastille and the Unity of the French People, Held at Paris, July 14, 1790 .............................. 24 1.3. The Oath of La Fayette (Wearing the Blue, White, and Red Uniform of the National Guard, Which Became the Colors of the Revolution) at the Federation Festival, July 14, 1790 ...............................................25 1.4. The IDF’s Givati Brigade Participating in Evening Prayers at the Western Wall, the Symbolic Focal Point of the Jewish People ......................................... 26 1.5. A French Catholic Counter-Revolutionary with White Cockade (the Color of the Monarchy) and Sacred Heart Badge, Symbol of Piety ............................ 30 4.1. Transition Readiness Report Form for the Iraqi Army ........ 114 4.2. Image from The Hawk, Iraq Justice and Peace Comic Book ............................................ 119 5.1. Billboard at Entrance to Burma Camp ......................... 147 6.1. The Gateway to the Army Base in Gao Named After the Tuareg Leader Firhoun ag Alincar ................... 161 7.1. Nigerian Linguistic Groups ...................................... 183 ix Tables 5.1. Regime Change in Ghana, 1957–Present ....................... 137 5.2. Selected UN Missions and the Role of the Ghanaian Armed Forces (2015) .................................. 148 7.1. Nigeria’s Military Rulers .......................................... 182 xi Summary Security Force Assistance