Motive Subject Matter Expert Nathan Toronto shares how his recent experience advising the 3rd Security Force Assistance Brigade (3rd SFAB) and reflecting on “how the United States can reform military advising efforts to have a strategic effect, rather than achieving short-term tactical or operational gains that do not bear up under the weight of the overarching political conflict,” prompted him to consider the question “How does the Army know when an advisor is ready to deploy?”
Dismantling Afghanistan's Opium Empire: How the heroin-rich Taliban could become the world's most ironic counter-narcotics champion
Since the toppling of their regime in 2001, the Taliban have demanded recognition from Kabul as a legitimate political actor in a country where they enjoy substantial support among segments of the population, not least for for the economic and infrastructural systems they helped cultivate and on which nearly all rural Afghans depend. The Taliban have a near monopoly on a global commodity representing a $4 billion dollar a year industry that necessitates the sustainment of elaborate supply chains: opium. But a deeper conflict analysis foretells a future in which the Taliban could soon be incentivized not only to walk away from its lucrative drug empire but become an ardent counter-narcotics partner to the Kabul government and its international backers.
Interagency Cooperation for Effective Border Management in Tajikistan
On 18-21 DEC 2018, Motive International's SME on Border Management Robert Colbert participated in a CENTCOM requested "Exploratory Workshop on Best Practices in Interagency Cooperation for Effective Border Management" in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The purpose of this workshop was to gain insights into the Tajik Border Security capabilities by engaging members of the Tajik MoD and MoI involved in the Border Security mission, as well as representatives of the Border Guards, in a strategic listening opportunity prior to a CENTCOM led scoping visit on capacity building with the intent to provide training and equipment to the National Security forces of Tajikistan authorized under U.S. Code Title 10 § 333.
Shaping Authority in the Human Domain: Transforming Civil Affairs’ Aperture on Governance.
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.
A Tool for Guiding By, With and Through in Syria and Everywhere: A Case for Motive’s SCAT
Overcoming a legacy of broken pledges is just one of many hurdles in any future journey towards conceiving, authorizing, resourcing then carefully cultivating BW&T partnerships with any future partner. Yet instead of developing processes to ensure these myriad challenges are overcome, gut instinct and partisan politics still dominate U.S. decision-making on partnered operations, while informed analytic approaches to assess the risks, rewards, and requirements for successful BW&T are absent. Though there is no avoiding realpolitik, history makes a compelling demand for better tools to answer the critical questions of with whom, why, how and when to invest (or divest) from BW&T operations. One possible option: Motive International’s Social Contract Assessment Tool (SCAT).
Cracking the Code on Assessments, Monitoring & Evaluation
On 1-2 OCT 2019, the CENTCOM J3 Counternarcotics (CN) division -- in partnership with NESA -- sponsored a seminar and workshop called “Cracking the Code on Assessments, Monitoring & Evaluation (AM&E)” led by Motive International SMEs Ms. Morgan Keay and Dr. Salamah Magnuson. With participants from across CENTCOM, SOCOM, SOCCENT and from OSD/Counternarcotics, the event cultivated participants’ AM&E skills in the Theory of Change and Types & Targets of Change (T2Delta) methods, then facilitated the application of these methods to the CENTCOM CN portfolio.