Since 2009 the U.S. Marines have deployed Female Engagement Teams as part of its COIN effort. How does this relate to the gendering of COIN?
Speculation remains as to what sort of foreign policy captain President Obama is and whether the president has articulated foreign policy doctrine specific to his administration.
Each approach has its own inherent limitations. The human terrain approach was a ‘quick-fix’. But maybe the US Air Force’s model of cross-cultural competence offers more promise.
Identimetrics adds identity to the operational and strategic context of counterinsurgency, which must be considered when operating in foreign environments and within foreign cultures.
If we insist on using our military as a tool of diplomacy then it is essential that cultural training be a core part of the military skill set.
Do the military need socio-cultural knowledge in order to complete their missions? Yes. Is this only provided by the HTS? No.
An effort is now under way to draft a joint COIN doctrine informed by an air-minded perspective to reflect the range, speed, and capabilities of aerospace forces.
Proof of concept programs are, by their very nature, cutting edge experiments funded to enhance the efficiency and morality of the warfare the U.S. Army is charged with conducting. It is unreasonable to assume that these programs will come out of the box perfect.
The American public is tired of war. Soon there will be no US forces in Iraq and the scheduled drawdown of troops in Afghanistan is being accelerated. In both cases American field commanders objected to the withdrawals, hoping to preserve tenuously held gains in those conflicts by retaining on site American combat capabilities.
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