Conference
USF Patel Center for Global Solutions,
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
February 18-19 2014
We are at a major inflection point after two wars, major upheaval and change in the Middle East, humanitarian challenges, new military technologies and changes in the character of conflict. The conference examines the increasingly important human, social and cultural dimension in contemporary and emerging warfare and conflict, while seeking to inform the debate about national strategy and military doctrine.
Understanding the human domain is a key consideration for policy and strategy as so many conflicts now arise not from encounters between state-sponsored militaries but rather from among groups more or less embedded within civilian populations. Contemporary conflict and warfare increasingly involves adversaries (insurgents, terrorists, criminal networks, piracy, and guerillas) who exploit specific human environments, such as ungoverned areas, tribal social structures and stressed urban environments. Moreover, in many areas of the world the role of tribal, sectarian, and ethnic factors are critically important for understanding leader and group dynamics, influence networks, and motivations. Planning can no longer marginalize the human dimension. Furthermore, humanitarian concerns—from human rights to refugees, reinforced by new social media—are key considerations for the United States and its closest allies. Beyond the military, other sectors from NGOs to the private sector, have risen in importance.
In the words of Gen. Flynn, who heads the Defense Intelligence Agency, the “perceptions of populations are increasingly the center of gravity of all conflicts. Thus, investments in sociocultural tradecraft contribute to preventing the onset of conflict, to effectively prosecuting conflict if it comes, and to ensuring attainment of political goals and sustainable peace after the end of conflict.” Our whole-of-government approach (which often can involve inter-state and international agencies as well) has to deal with whole-of-society interests, fears, concerns, and power structures. Good decisions required for advancing governance and development initiatives need fidelity on the human dimension because ethnic groups, tribes/sub-tribes, sectarian/religious leadership, political parties and patronage groupings shape the complexity and ambiguity of rural and urban decision-making and support systems.
This conference seeks to aid overcoming inadequate understanding of the human domain for military, civilian agency, NGO and international organization decision-making. We endeavor to examine conflict and the human dimension because we are not as good as we need to be in taking 'the human' into consideration as it impacts governance, politics, development, and security. A common critique of US efforts is US strategy and policy suffered from an inadequate understanding of the human domain’s implications for influence and engagement operations for pre-conflict, conflict and post-conflict. This shortfall equally impacts civil government agencies, NGOs, international organizations and the private sector.
Additional Information:
Comments
"The conference examines the increasingly important human, social and cultural dimension in contemporary and emerging warfare and conflict, while seeking to inform the debate about national strategy and military doctrine."
There are barriers to where the United States wants to go and to how it wants to get there.
One of these barriers is the "human, social and cultural dimension" of different (less-western/non-western) states and societies.
At the end of the Cold War, these barriers were thought to have been largely washed away.
Such ideas as "the end of history" and "universal values" tended to downplay the human domain/the human dimension.
Planning and execution of military operations followed this train of thought and proceeded along the lines of:
a. If we liberate the people from their oppressive governments,
b. And offer them our way of life and our way of governance (which they were, supposedly, pining for anyway),
c. Then the subject populations would (1) readily abandon their outdated/obstructing ways of life and ways of governance and (2) readily adopt our modern western ways.
Now we understand that these "end of history"/"universal values" ideas -- and the military operations upon which these ideas were largely based -- were/are terribly wrong.
Thus, "Planning can no longer marginalize the human dimension." (From paragraph 2 of the conference article/announcement above.)
Such marginalization of "the human domain"/"the human dimension" -- as relates to the planning and execution of military operations -- seems to be exactly what happened following the Cold War and the advent of "end of history"/"universal values" thinking.
That is an interesting point. In the discussions I have seen the “Human Dimension” refers to the psychological aspects of Soldiers in the fight. Things like PTSD and Resiliency training. The “Human Domain” is the social structures of any/all human populations. It has to do with influencing the population, or bending them to your will (the ultimate aim of War). But that is just my experience.
I am less of a cynic, and more of a realist. As much as I think this conference is needed, I firmly believe that it is doomed from the start. The Army, the only force who really has any interest in the human domain, would prefer to return to the days of the Fulda Gap. They have no interest in anything useful that may come from this conference.
But, I must admit that I am very interested in it. Does anyone know who the speakers are and whether videos will be available of the events?
Looking at the title of this conference -- and the theme and description of the information that will be discussed therein -- there can no longer be any question in our military minds:
a. That the focus of the foreign policy of the United States has been -- and continues to be -- the political, economic and social "development" (transformation) of outlying states and societies.
b. That all of America's instruments of power (to include its military forces) have been -- and will continue to be -- devoted to this end.
c. That the error that is believed to have been made in the recent past (due to "end of history" thinking) was to:
1. Downplay the enduring power and influence of different (non-western) ways of life, ways of governance and values, attitudes and beliefs and to
2. Give too much credit to the power and influence of our own (western) ways of life, ways of governance, etc.
If one were to sum up our learning, it might be described as follows:
That despite winning the wars against Fascism -- and winning the wars against Communism -- we have not, thereby, also won the wars against all other ideas and beliefs which order and organize peoples, states and societies. Such wars (therefore and due to our unlimited ambition) must go on.
Herein, we have come to understand and acknowledge that -- much as there are severe limits to power -- likewise are there severe limits to the appeal of our unique ideas, values and beliefs.
With this new/old understanding in hand, now our planning and preparations -- for all of our whole-of-government forces (to include our military forces) -- will, of necessity, be modified and adapted (re-adapted) accordingly.
This re-understanding of, essentially, human nature -- as this relates to and stands in the way of our political objective (outlying state and societal "development"/transformation) -- this, I suggest, is what the new emphasis on "the human dimension," and the conference announced above, is really all about.