This article originally appeared in Vol 31 Issue 4 of Special Warfare Magazine October - December 2018.
The term ‘governance’ recently re-emerged across the Civil Affairs Regiment, appearing on new Mission Essential Task Lists in the SOF component, in updated regiment-wide doctrine and publications and as a reinvigorated topic of concept and capability development.01 Governance is not new to CA. The regiment’s roots are in Military Government in post-World War I and World War II theatres, and more recently in state-building endeavors, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. Indeed, images of CA forces executing technocratic, essential service projects in support of governments-in-transition is often the first image that comes to mind when one thinks of governance in the military context. This image is problematic.
The perceived value and capabilities of CA forces have been hindered by understanding of governance that remains overly state-centric and service-focused. As discussed below, doctrine, operational concepts, training and education and leadership are preoccupied with government at the expense of governance. This prevents CA forces from gaining necessary capabilities to assess and affect the myriad manifestations of non-state governance that define contests in the human domain. Read On…