At the 2016 PSOTEW, the United States Institute of Peace
(USIP) tested sections from a new course being developed for
the institute’s on-campus curriculum titled “Dealing Effectively
with Uncertainty: Civ-Mil Relations in Shared Spaces”. The
new course is designed to develop the knowledge and skills
necessary for mid-level practitioners in the U.S. Government
(USG), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), and International Organizations (IO) to work more effectively with each
other and with host country actors. Since 2001, civilian and
military actors have been required to operate together through
all stages of the conflict cycle to a degree unheard of since post
World War II reconstruction. The results have been mixed at
best. Nevertheless, this interaction is only likely to increase,
even as resources diminish, underscoring the importance of
improving common understanding, effective communication,
and when desirable, collaboration.
Background
The USIP Civilian-Military Relations team, part of the Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding
within the Center for Applied Conflict Transformation, has
spent years developing relations and increasing understanding
among civilian and military actors.
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In a comprehensive needs assessment of knowledge and skills required to work effectively in peacebuilding, many respondents
cited the importance of improved interagency and interorganizational coordination, communication and relations. We then
undertook a review of existing civ-mil courses to ensure that
any new USIP course would not duplicate efforts, but rather fill
remaining gaps in knowledge and training.
An examination of over 80 courses held at 16 different institutions including civilian government agencies, military institutions, IOs and NGOs revealed that the majority of courses
surveyed (55%) were only available to internal audiences. The
remaining were available to external students; however, only one
explicitly sought to ensure a balanced roster from both civilian
and military entities. Approximately half of all courses surveyed
were aimed at entry-level professionals or practitioners unfamiliar with civ-mil issues. From these findings, we concluded that a
new course directed at mid-level practitioners across the peacebuilding community was needed.
At the 2015 PSOTEW, USIP facilitated a discussion on whether or not others in the peacebuilding community saw this need,
and if so, what would the contents and appropriate audience
of such as course be. Participants agreed that such a course was