Unified Quest 2008– Army Future Game Enables an Interagency Examination of Future Security Challenges

The Army Future Game is the culminating event in the Unified Quest campaign of learning, which annually examines the most salient issues confronting the Army and our nation. From April 29 to May 9, 2008, nearly 400 military officers, government officials, and scholars gathered at the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pa., to explore “building partnership capacity” as a potential key element in a future national security strategy. In designing “whole-of-government” responses to a variety of fictional, future crises, participants exchanged views, ideas and concerns in an invaluable, interdisciplinary forum.

Unified Quest 2009 will further expand opportunities for collaboration across the interagency community by applying innovative, interagency planning procedures to complex, future scenarios.

Great concept that needs the theory and methodology introduced on this weblog.  The concept, “Whole-of-government” also know as: systems thinking, horizontal thinking, enterprise thinking, strategic thinking, and supply-chain management to name a few.

 

“Tribe Helps Al-Maliki Win Control Of South” (Washington Times)…Rowan Scarborough, May 23, 2008, pg.1

Of all the tactical moves Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki made in March to wrest control of southern Iraq from Shi’ite extremists, none was more important than his government’s meetings with tribal sheiks.

On his blog, A bit too convenient … Tom Barnett commenting on an article describing President Bush’s latest trip to the Middle East, identified his expectation that the Middle East may “be largely democratized no later than 2025.”

Barnett also speculates that “Bush calling Iran the equivalent of Nazi Germany is his way of signaling the White House’s pre-approval for any Israeli military strikes on his watch.”

Tribes continue to be a key “stakeholder” in bringing about stability in Iraq. Involving all stakeholders and applying NEW methods is just as critical for bringing about peace throughout the Middle East. If you always do what you always did on average, you’ll usually get what you always got.

Supporting information on this Weblog that represents a NEW approach include the following:

The Leadership Paradigm and Framework page outlines a method that would help to optimize the application of Smart Power by all elements of national power.  Proper application of the framework includes identifying the role that “tribes” play in Iraq.

Regarding a context for the operational environment, I refer you to Tom Barnett’s strategic concept on the need for a Leviathan and Sys Admin Force in managing the threats associated with the “non-integrating gap.”

The Strategery pages helps illustrate the need to stratify application of the framework at the near, mid and long-term (2025) , e.g., different players at different levels working within different timeframes simultaneously working together to achieve a common aim.

The U-Think? page introduces the concept of prediction markets that may be a useful tool for engaging people (stakeholders) in assessing expected outcomes, e.g., do you agree with the projections of a more democratized Middle East in 2025?

And finally, The Manifesto and Connecting the Dots pages  introduces a common language and direction for taking the kind of action that will have a higher probability of success than “the way we’ve always done it.”

Despite SecDef Pleas, Pentagon Is Losing The Innovation War (National Defense)…Sandra I. Erwin, June 2008

Defense Secretary Robert Gates briefly grabbed the headlines last month when he challenged the Pentagon to “find more innovative and bold ways to help those whose lives are on the line.” He might just as well have asked for the moon.

Innovation is not just a challenge for the military. In December, 2004, the U.S. Council on Competitiveness reported that, “Innovation will be the single most important factor in determining America’s success through the 21st century . For the past 25 years, we have optimized our organizations for efficiency and quality. Over the next quarter century, we must optimize our entire society for innovation.”

One of the better books on Innovation I’ve studied is  The Elegant Solution, by Mathew May. A summary provided at the following link:  How does Toyota Do It?

Petraeus: Diplomacy, Not Force, With Iran
(Washington Post)…Karen DeYoung, may 22, 2008, Pg.9

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, President Bush’s nominee to lead U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, supports continued U.S. engagement with international and regional partners to find the right mix of diplomatic, economic and military leverage to address the challenges posed by Iran.

Challenge is always applying the right mix of diplomatic, economic and military leverage.  Information element of power (media) another instrument of power that plays a critical role in influencing events.

Why U.S. Must Pull Out Of Iraq (Boston Globe)…Sean E. Duggan, May 22, 2008

An unconditional and open-ended military commitment to a dysfunctional and sectarian Iraqi government will not bring about true national reconciliation, which is necessary to capitalize on what temporary security and political gains have been made.

Rather, this commitment forfeits what little leverage the United States has left: the ability to extract political compromises from a status quo Iraqi government by presenting it with a credible threat of a US withdrawal if concessions are not made and implemented.

Adds a perspective on the potential to leverage the military instrument of power in bringing about political reform.