Complex Operations Lexicon

Senior Editor 

R. Scott Moore, PhD 

Principal Researcher 

Christopher Ehrhart 

Contributors 

Geary Cox 

Aileen McLaren 

Scott Miller 

Jenny Mitchell 

Nicole Neitzey 
Table of Contents

Acknowledgements iii 

Introduction iv 

Lexicon of Terms 1 

List of Acronyms and Abbreviations 172 

Sources 192 

Center for Complex Operations 198 

ii
Acknowledgements 

The research and writing of this lexicon would not have been possible without the efforts and 

dedication of a wide range of organizations and people. Thanks must first be given to those 

individuals from the US Departments of Defense and State, the US Agency for International 

Development, the United Nations, NATO, the NGO community, and a host of other official and 

semi-official organizations whose largely anonymous but important work compiled the many 

word lists, glossaries, and publications that form the basis of this lexicon. The list of sources 

offers but a sampling of their efforts. 

Within the Center for Complex Operations (CCO), a host of research associates and student 

interns conducted literature reviews and research, sought out new sources, contacted government 

agencies, proofread drafts, and cross-checked definitions and references over the course of many 

months. Notable among these individuals was Scott Miller, whose research acumen resulted in 

an initial draft that formed the core of the lexicon. Jenny Mitchell and Aileen McLaren spent 

long hours doing the necessary final editing as well as ensuring each term was appropriately and 

accurately cited. For those whose names may not be listed, rest assured your contributions did 

not go unnoticed and are much appreciated. 

James Madison University’s Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR) fleshed 

an original draft into a robust reference of value across the community of conflict practitioners, 

military and civilian, by drawing in the language of a diverse set of communities who operate in 

conflict zones. This CISR team, under the capable supervision of Nicole Neitzey, moved the 

lexicon from a loose list to an all-inclusive and documented sourcebook. Particular praise goes 

to the principle researcher, Eastern Mennonite University graduate Christopher Ehrhart, who 

added the language of conflict resolution. Without the professionalism and expertise resident in 

CISR, this project would have floundered. Special thanks are extended to former CISR Director 

Dennis Barlow and current Director Ken Rutherford for making their superb organization 

available. 

Any omissions or oversights in the lexicon cannot be blamed on those listed above; errors real or 

perceived rest solely with the senior editor, whose primary task, in addition to directing the 

project, centered on determining which terms, and which sources for those terms, would be 

included. A more detailed explanation of the criteria for such decisions is contained in the 

introduction. The lexicon is intended as a dynamic document, with the full realization that 

complex operations and their associated vocabulary are inherently dynamic. Those who find 

fault are invited to contribute to the lexicon’s refinement and growth. 

R. Scott Moore, PhD 

Deputy Director 

Center for Complex Operations 

National Defense University 

Washington, DC 

February 2011 

iii
Introduction 

This lexicon is intended as a tool to help strip away one source of the endemic 

miscommunication and friction that now plagues both soldiers and civilians, government and 

non-government, who plan, coordinate, and execute the complex set of overlapping civil-military 

activities and tasks that have come to characterize armed conflicts and their aftermath. 

Collectively known as complex operations1, they demand, but too often lack, a sense of common 

purpose and mutual understanding between a wide array of planners and practitioners, all of 

whom bring with them different organizational cultures, world visions, and operational 

approaches. These disconnects can, and too often do, create confusion, at times with tragic 

results, both on the ground and among policy-makers. Part of that confusion stems from the 

widely varied vocabulary used by these many actors. Each organization possesses their own 

unique terminology, perfectly clear to them, but foggy to others. Even when words look and 

sound familiar they often have quite different and sometimes alien meanings. Anyone who has 

attended an acronym and jargon-laced coordination meeting of military, civilian government, 

and NGO representatives knows the frustration of trying to interpret what is meant by words that 

have many different connotations. It is in hopes of lessening this confusion that this lexicon has 

been compiled. 

By providing a list of terms and their definitions, as well as many of the acronyms, used by both 

military and civilian actors in complex operations, the following pages offer a means to translate 

what others are saying. The lexicon does not strive to establish a single agreed meaning for each 

term. Indeed, such a list may well be unrealistic if not impossible, and certainly beyond the 

scope of this publication. Rather, each word or phrase includes one or more definitions 

reflecting various organizational vocabularies. In that way the meaning of a term employed by 

one may become understandable to another. This lexicon thus takes no stance; it records the 

definitions of the many terms used in complex operations, in all their variations. In short, it seeks 

to provide a reference tool with which practitioners may look up a word or phrase and ensure 

that its meaning as intended by the user is clear. 

If the lexicon makes no attempt to proffer consensus definitions, it nonetheless does try to 

provide a comprehensive list of those terms that are officially recognized, commonly used, or 

generally accepted. It thus draws first from officially recognized glossaries of government or 

international agencies. For government organizations, definitions reflect official approval as 

found in published glossaries and dictionaries, manuals and handbooks, policy documents, and 

training materials. Glossaries for non-governmental organizations and the wider conflict 

 

1

   Although increasingly in use, the term complex operations is not universally recognized, even with the relatively

narrow confines of the United States national security community.    Formally coined by the US Congress in

legislation that established the Center for Complex Operations, the definition includes stability operations, security

operations, transition and reconstruction operations, counterinsurgency operations, and operations included

within the Department of Defense’s concept of irregular warfare.    In truth, the term complex operations is a

compromise that allows civilian agencies, to include many humanitarian non‐governmental organizations whose

mandates and cultures eschew warfare and armed conflict, to examine and perhaps participate in operations that

may include military operations; it is used to define the problem as inoffensively as possible.  In that sense, the

term is symbolic of the institutional and organizational differences this lexicon in small part tries to address.  

iv
resolution and humanitarian aid communities lack such clarity, but attempts to collect common 

usages and definitions by such organizations as the United States Institute for Peace and 

academic institutions have resulted in a set of terms and definitions that, if not prescriptive, boast 

a certain status of acceptability. Unfortunately, the vocabulary of complex operations is not 

nearly so succinct or well-defined. In many organizations, to include government agencies, even 

certified terms lack broad agreement or applicability; one need look no further than the 

differences of terminology between the US military services to see such divergence. The many 

non-governmental organizations and individuals who operate in conflict zones largely lack such 

formal documentation. Additionally, practitioners tend to use words and phrases that work for 

them and their immediate contemporaries, thus field expediency can alter definitions to meet 

immediate demands. Finally, a growing literature within academe, especially in the security 

studies and conflict resolution communities, has created an unofficial but relatively widely 

accepted language that needed to be acknowledged and included. 

The lexicon is arranged in three parts. In the first, terms and their definitions are listed 

alphabetically, with one or more definitions, with each definition immediately followed by its 

source in italics (the full citation for which can be found at the end of the lexicon). Notably, 

many terms are followed by more than one definition, reflecting the various usages of a term by 

military and civilian, government and non-government organizations. This is the heart of the 

lexicon, and its purpose—to list, in the same place, the variations that surround complex 

operations vocabulary and offer a source of common understanding. Two key considerations 

determine whether or not a term is included in this lexicon. First, and most obvious, the term 

must relate, at least in some small way, to complex operations, as defined in the footnote above 

and in the lexicon. Second, the term must be in use by military forces, civilian agencies, nongovernmental organizations, or international and regional organizations (such as the United 

Nations, NATO, or OSCE), preferably in the field, but at least in their doctrine or policy 

literature. In the end, the inclusion of a term sometimes fell to subjective judgment based on 

experience. For that, the senior editor takes full responsibility, for he had the final say on 

whether or not a term, once identified, made it into the following pages. 

The second part offers many of the commonly used complex operations acronyms and initials 

and their full translation. Acronyms have become language of their own, especially in military 

circles. The most commonly used are contained in this section, chosen using the same criteria as 

that for terms and definitions. 

The last section provides the principle sources used to compile the lexicon. The list includes 

those specifically cited in the lexicon as well as those used as references and guidance. Military 

sources proved both readily available and comprehensive. The US Department of Defense’s 

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (JP 1.02) provided the base document, augmented, 

when necessary, by other doctrinal publications and by NATO’s Glossary of Terms and 

Definitions (AAP-6), which offered a coalition perspective. US government civilian agencies 

proved more difficult, and often their glossaries were narrowly focused on specific functional 

areas (such as contracting or humanitarian assistance) or incomplete. The US Agency for 

International Development’s Field Operations Guide offered a solid reference for humanitarian 

aid and emergency response terms. Fortunately, while unofficial, Freeman’s seminal Diplomat’s 

Dictionary, now in its third printing, filled in gaps, ensured commonality, and often offered 

v
terms and definitions that could not otherwise be found. The United Nations, through its 

departments (especially Peacekeeping and Development), provided a ready source of 

internationally recognized terms, both military and civilian. Perhaps the most useful source for 

non-military and conflict resolution related terms was the United States Institute for Peace’s 

recently published Peace Terms. It served as another baseline document, but one that required 

augmentation from several academic and non-governmental sources. Notable among the latter 

were a listing compiled by the American Friends Service Committee for promoting peace and the 

glossary developed by the University of Colorado’s Conflict Research Consortium. Nevertheless, 

despite the wide-ranging array of sources, it was occasionally necessary to turn to policy 

documents, speeches, and even websites to find definitions, or at least craft one from common 

usage. In the few cases where molding a definition from several such documents became 

necessary, the citation may read multiple sources or website. This should not be taken to mean 

that the definition is invalid; quite the contrary, the definition in the lexicon reflects the common 

usage as set forth in several documents and speeches. It merely indicates that formal cataloging 

of the term has not occurred (until now). In cases in which various institutional definitions 

contained excessive jargon or seemed confusing, the Oxford Dictionary offered a standard 

reference and starting point for common understanding. Finally, occasionally listed below a term 

is an Editor’s Note, inserted to add clarity or explain a term that may be in common use, but not 

adequately defined in other sources. 

Given the wide array of sources and usages, this lexicon thus makes no claim to be either 

complete or officially sanctioned. This lexicon is intended as a tool to help practitioners and 

policy makers understand each other, not to satisfy an academic or doctrinal pedant. Indeed, the 

Center for Complex Operations views this as a living document. In keeping with that intent, 

users are invited to offer new terms and definitions, updates, corrections, and constructive 

comments via email at info@ccoportal.org. With your help, the lexicon will be continually 

updated and remain a useful and practical resource for all involved in complex operations. 

vi
Lexicon of Terms 
A 

Acceptability 

The joint operation plan review criterion for assessing whether the contemplated course of action 

is proportional and worth the cost in personnel, equipment, materiel, time involved, or position; 

is consistent with the law of war; and is militarily and politically supportable. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Acceptable Risk 

Degree of human and material loss that is perceived by the community or relevant authorities as 

tolerable in actions to minimize disaster risk. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Accountability 

The notion that individuals, including public officials, should be held responsible for their 

actions. Political accountability means the responsibility or obligation of government officials to 

act in the best interests of society or face consequences. Legal accountability concerns the 

mechanisms by which public officials can be held liable for actions that go against established 

rules and principles. In cases of crimes against humanity, accountability means that individuals 

should be held accountable by the state they occurred in or by the international community. 

USIP Peace Terms 

International aid agencies shall hold themselves accountable to both the beneficiary communities 

(that their needs for assistance are met with dignity) and the donors (that assistance is provided 

for the proposed purpose). Coordination with other actors is a key part of this principle. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

Active Defense 

The employment of limited offensive action and counterattacks to deny a contested area or 

position to the enemy. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Acquisition Planning 

The process by which the efforts of all personnel responsible for an acquisition are coordinated 

and integrated through a comprehensive plan for fulfilling the agency need in a timely manner 

and at a reasonable cost. It includes developing the overall strategy for managing the acquisition. 

Department of State Foreign Affairs Handbook 

2
Adequacy 

The joint operation plan review criterion for assessing whether the scope and concept of planned 

operations can accomplish the assigned mission and comply with the planning guidance 

provided. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Administrative Control (ADCON) 

Direction or exercise of authority over subordinate or other organizations in respect to 

administration and support, including organization of Service forces, control of resources and 

equipment, personnel management, unit logistics, individual and unit training, readiness, 

mobilization, demobilization, discipline, and other matters not included in the operational 

missions of the subordinate or other organizations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Safeguards ensuring that contracting will be carried out in conformity with applicable regulations 

and Department policy. 

Department of State Foreign Affairs Handbook 

Direction or exercise of authority over subordinate or other organizations in respect to 

administrative matters such as personnel management, supply, services, and other matters not 

included in operational missions of the subordinate or other organizations. 

NATO AAP-6 

Advance Planning 

Planning conducted principally in peacetime to develop plans for contingencies identified by 

strategic planning assumptions. Advance planning prepares for a possible contingency based 

upon the best available information and can form the basis for Crisis Response Planning. 

Joint Chiefs of Staff JWP 5-00 

Advance planning (also referred to as contingency planning) is deliberate planning conducted 

with the intent of addressing future security risks. Typically this type of planning is performed by 

a nation/nations or a standing regional alliance structure. The on-the-shelf plans resulting from 

this process may provide the basis for coalition plan development dependent upon their 

applicability to the actual situation. 

Multinational Interoperability Council Coalition Planning Guide 

The interagency planning within the US government normally initiated by the Deputies 

Committee – but may also be originated at the call of the National Security Council, a 

department Under Secretary, a U.S. Ambassador, or a regional Combatant Commander – prior to 

employing resources during a contingency. Advance planning generates viable options to deal 

with the crisis rather than detailed plans. The process produces the National Political-Military 

Implementation Plan that documents the national objectives for resolving the contingency and 

provides interagency guidance for achieving them. In situations where a rapid response is 

3
essential, advanced planning and crisis action planning may be accomplished in parallel, but the 

assumptions used for parallel planning must be shared. 

Multiple Sources 

Adversarial Approach 

The adversarial approach to a conflict sees the other party or parties as an enemy to be defeated. 

It can be compared to the problem-solving approach which views the other party or parties as 

people who have a common problem that needs to be jointly solved. The adversarial approach 

typically leads to competitive confrontation strategies, while the problem-solving approach leads 

to cooperative or integrative strategies for approaching the conflict situation. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Adversary/Adversaries

Adversaries are people who oppose each other in a conflict. They are also called opponents, 

parties, or disputants. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

One's opponent in a contest, conflict, or dispute. 

Oxford Dictionary 

Advocacy 

Advocacy is the process of taking and working for a particular side’s interests in a conflict. 

Lawyers engage in advocacy when they represent a client in a legal proceeding. Disputants can 

also engage in advocacy themselves – arguing for their own position in negotiation, mediation, 

or a political debate. Any attempt to persuade another side to agree to your demands is advocacy. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Agency

In intelligence usage, an organization or individual engaged in collecting and/or processing 

information. Also called collection agency. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Special government organizations set up for a specific purpose such as the management of 

resources, financial oversight of industries or national security issues. These organizations are 

typically created by legislative action, but may initially be set up by a presidential order as well. 

The directors of these agencies are typically selected by Presidential appointment. 

Multiple Sources 

4
Agent

In intelligence usage, one who is authorized or instructed to obtain or to assist in obtaining 

information for intelligence or counterintelligence purposes. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

A general term denoting the persons who carry on the politcal and diplomatic relations of the 

states they represent with the government of the country where they are appointed to reside. Also 

called a diplomatic agent. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

Aide Memoire 

French for "aid to memory" to describe an informal note presented to a foreign official to help in 

conveying USG views or positions; a useful device to ensure "our" words, not the foreign 

official's notes, are the ones which convey our views to his superiors who may not be present for 

the discussion. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms 

Air Assault 

The movement of friendly assault forces (combat, combat support, and combat service support) 

by rotary-wing aircraft to engage and destroy enemy forces or to seize and hold key terrain. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Air Interdiction 

Air operations conducted to divert, disrupt, delay, or destroy the enemy’s military potential 

before it can be brought to bear effectively against friendly forces, or to otherwise achieve 

objectives. Air interdiction is conducted at such distance from friendly forces that detailed 

integration of each air mission with the fire and movement of friendly forces is not required. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Air operations conducted to divert, disrupt, delay, degrade or destroy an enemy’s military 

potential before it can be brought to bear effectively and at such distance that detailed integration 

of each air mission with the fire and maneuver of friendly forces is not required. 

NATO AAP-6 

Air Support 

All forms of support given by air forces on land or sea. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

5
Air Strike 

An attack on specific objectives by fighter, bomber, or attack aircraft on an 

offensive mission. May consist of several air organizations under a single command in 

the air. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

All-Source Intelligence 

Intelligence products and/or organizations and activities that incorporate all sources of 

information, most frequently including human resources intelligence, imagery intelligence, 

measurement and signature intelligence, signals intelligence, and open-source data in the 

production of finished intelligence. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Alliance 

The relationship that results from a formal agreement (e.g., treaty) between two or more nations 

for broad, long-term objectives that further the common interests of the members. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

A relatively stable coalition of two or more states sharing common national secuirty interests that 

has been formalized in a treaty or treaties. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

A union or association formed for mutual benefit, especially between countries or organizations.

A relationship based on an affinity in interests, nature, or qualities. 

Oxford Dictionary

Ambassador: See Chief of Mission 

Editor’s Note: A US ambassador is the direct representative President and the senior US 

official in the host country, with directive authority over all US government personnel serving in 

that country, the sole exception being US military units deployed in response to crisis or conflict 

and operating under a Combatant Commander. 

Amnesty 

The granting of a pardon for past offenses – especially political offenses – including, for 

example, human rights violations and war crimes. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

1. An official pardon for people who have been convicted of political offenses. 

2. An undertaking by the authorities to take no action against specified offenses or offenders 

during a fixed period. 

Oxford Dictionary

6
Analytical Problem-Solving 

This is an approach to deep-rooted or intractable conflicts that brings disputants together to 

analyze the underlying human needs that cause their conflict, and then helping them work 

together to develop ways to provide the necessary needs to resolve the problem. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Antiterrorism 

Defensive measures used to reduce the vulnerability of individuals and property to terrorist acts, 

to include limited response and containment by local military forces. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Arbitration 

A form of international adjudication that involves the referral of a dispute or disputes to an ad 

hoc tribunal – rather than to a permanently established court – for binding decision. By 

agreement, the parties define the issues to be arbitrated, the method for selecting arbitrators, and 

the procedures for the tribunal. Because the parties have committed in advance (often by treaty) 

to accept the results, most states comply with arbitral awards. Perhaps the best-known recent 

example of conflict-related arbitration concerned control of the Brcko area, in Bosnia and 

Herzegovina, as part of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Arbitration differs from mediation, in 

which a third party helps the disputants develop a solution on their own. 

USIP Peace Terms

Area Clearance

In land operations, the detection and if found, identification, marking and neutralization, 

destruction or removal of mines or other explosive ordnance, improvised explosive devices and 

booby traps in a defined area to allow a military operation to continue with reduced risk. Note: 

Area clearance is normally conducted by military units. 

NATO AAP-6 

Area Damage Control

Measures taken before, during or after hostile action or natural or manmade disasters, to reduce 

the probability of damage and minimize its effects. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Area of Influence

A geographical area wherein a commander is directly capable of influencing operations by 

maneuver or fire support systems normally under the commander’s command or control. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

7
A geographical area wherein a commander is directly capable of influencing operations, by 

manoeuvre or fire support systems normally under his command or control. 

NATO AAP-6 

Area of Interest

That area of concern to the commander, including the area of influence, areas adjacent thereto, 

and extending into enemy territory to the objectives of current orplanned operations. This area 

also includes areas occupied by enemy forces who could jeopardize the accomplishment of the 

mission. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

The area of concern to a commander relative to the objectives of current or planned operations, 

including his areas of influence, operations and/or responsibility, and areas adjacent thereto. 

NATO AAP-6 

Area of Limitation 

A defined area where specific limitations apply to the strength and fortifications of disputing or 

belligerent forces. Normally, upper limits are established for the number and type of formations, 

tanks, antiaircraft weapons, artillery, and other weapons systems in the area of limitation. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Area of Operations (AO)

An operational area defined by the joint force commander for land and maritime forces. Areas of 

operation do not typically encompass the entire operational area of the joint force commander, 

but should be large enough for component commanders to accomplish their missions and protect 

their forces. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

An operational area defined by a joint commander for land or maritime forces to conduct 

military activities. Normally, an area of operations does not encompass the entire joint operations 

area of the joint commander, but is sufficient in size for the joint force component commander to 

accomplish assigned missions and protect forces. 

NATO AAP-6 

Area of Responsibility (AOR) 

The geographical area associated with a combatant command within which a geographic 

combatant commander has authority to plan and conduct operations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

In naval operations, a predefined area of enemy terrain for which supporting ships are 

responsible for covering by fire on known targets or targets of opportunity and by observation. 

NATO AAP-6 

8
Area of Separation 

A defined area controlled by a peace operations force from which disputing or belligerent forces 

have been excluded. A buffer zone is formed to create an area of separation between disputing or 

belligerent forces and reduce the risk of renewed conflict. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Area Security

A form of security operations conducted to protect friendly forces, installation routes, and 

actions within a specific area. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Armed Conflict 

A dispute involving the use of armed force between two or more parties. International 

humanitarian law distinguishes between international and noninternational armed conflict. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

A conflict where parties on both sides resort to the use of force. Difficult to define, an armed 

conflict can encompass a continuum of situations ranging from a military overflight or an attack 

on a civilian by a single soldier to an all-out war with massive casualties. 

Ramsbotham, Woodhouse, and Miall 

Armistice 

In international law, a suspension or temporary cessation of hostilities by agreement between 

belligerent powers. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Arms Control 

International disarmament or arms limitation, especially by mutual consent. 

Oxford Dictionary

Arms Control Agreement 

The written or unwritten embodiment of the acceptance of one or more arms control measures by 

two or more nations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Assault

1. The climax of an attack, closing with the enemy in hand-to-hand fighting. 

2. In an amphibious operation, the period of time between the arrival of the major assault forces 

9
of the amphibious task force in the objective area and the accomplishment of the amphibious 

task force mission. 

3. To make a short, violent, but well-ordered attack against a local objective, such as a gun 

emplacement, a fort, or a machine gun nest. 

4. A phase of an airborne operation beginning with delivery by air of the assault echelon of the 

force into the objective area and extending through attack of assault objectives and consolidation 

of the initial airhead. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Assembly Area 

An area in which a command is assembled preparatory to further action. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Assessment 

1. A continuous process that measures the overall effectiveness of employing joint force 

capabilities during military operations. 

2. Determination of the progress toward accomplishing a task, creating an effect, or achieving an 

objective. 

3. Analysis of the security, effectiveness, and potential of an existing or planned intelligence 

activity. 

4. Judgment of the motives, qualifications, and characteristics of present or prospective 

employees or “agents.” 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

The continuous monitoring and evaluation of the current situation, particularly the enemy, and 

progress of an operation. 

U.S. Army FM 3-0 

The process of evaluating the situation caused by a disaster, such as the number killed, injured, 

and affected. 

USAID Field Operations Guide 

Survey of a real or potential disaster to estimate the actual or expected damage and to make 

recommendations for prevention. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

The evaluation or estimation of the nature, quality, or ability of someone or something. 

Oxford Dictionary 

10
Asset 

(Intelligence) Any resource – person, group, relationship, instrument, installation, or supply – at 

the disposition of an intelligence organization for use in an operational or support role. Often 

used with a qualifying term such as agent asset or propaganda asset. 

DoD Joint Pub 2-0 

1. Military equipment, such as planes, ships, communications and radar installations, employed 

or targeted in military operations. 

2. Property owned by a person or company, regarded as having value and available to meet 

debts, commitments, or legacies 

Oxford Dictionary 

Asset Visibility 

Provides users with information on the location, movement, status, and identity of units, 

personnel, equipment, and supplies. It facilitates the capability to act upon that information to 

improve overall performance of the Department of Defense’s logistics practices. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Assistance 

Aid provided to address the physical, material and legal needs of persons of concern. This may 

include food items, medical supplies, clothing, shelter, seeds and tools, as well as the provision 

of infrastructure, such as school and roads. “Humanitarian Assistance” refers to assistance 

provided by humanitarian organizations for humanitarian purposes (i.e. non-political, noncommercial, and non-military purposes). 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

Assisting Organization 

Organization providing international disaster relief assistance. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

Assisting State 

State providing international disaster relief assistance. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

Assumption

A supposition on the current situation or a presupposition on the future course of events, either or 

both assumed to be true in the absence of positive proof, necessary to enable the commander in 

the process of planning to complete an estimate of the situation and make a decision on the 

course of action. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

11
A proposition that is taken for granted, as if it were true. For project management, assumptions 

are hypotheses about causal linkages or factors that could affect the progress or success of an 

intervention. 

USAID Glossary of Evaluation Terms 

Hypotheses about factors or risks, which could affect the progress or success of a development 

intervention. Assumptions can also be understood as hypothesized conditions that bear on the 

validity of the evaluation itself, (e.g., about the characteristics of the population when designing 

a sampling procedure for a survey. Assumptions are made explicit in theory-based evaluations 

where evaluation tracks systematically the anticipated results chain. 

OECD Glossary of Key Terms in Evaluation and Results Based Management

A thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof. 

Oxford Dictionary 

At-risk Population 

A group that may suffer the effects of drought, conflict, food insecurity, or other phenomena 

resulting in humanitarian hardship. 

USAID Field Operations Guide

Attach 

1. The placement of units or personnel in an organization where such placement is relatively 

temporary. 

2. The detailing of individuals to specific functions where such functions are secondary or 

relatively temporary. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Attaché 

Specialist, civilian or military, assigned to an overseas mission. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms 

A diplomatic title referring to officers in an embassy with a professional specialization – e.g. , 

military, cultural, educational, or press liaison. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

Attribution 

Ascribing a causal link between observed changes and a specific intervention(s) or program, 

taking into account the effects of other interventions and possible confounding factors. 

USAID Glossary of Evaluation Terms 

12
Attrition

The reduction of the effectiveness of a force caused by loss of personnel and materiel. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Attrition Rate

A factor, normally expressed as a percentage, reflecting the degree of losses of personnel or 

materiel due to various causes within a specified period of time. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

13
B

Backlash 

Backlash is a negative response to an action. When someone or a group is forced to do 

something against their will they will often resist or try to get back at the person or group who 

forced them in the first place. This can result in a reversal of an apparently resolved situation, 

and may even escalate the conflict further. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Bargaining 

The process of concessions, conditional offers, threats, and inducements, by which compromises 

and mutual accommodation are reached. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

Baseline 

1. A surveyed line established with more than usual care, to which surveys are referred for 

coordination and correlation. 

2. The line between the principal points of two consecutive vertical air photographs. It is usually 

measured on one photograph after the principal point of the other has been transferred. 

3. The shorter arc of the great circle joining two radio transmitting stations of a navigation 

system. 

4. The side of one of a series of coordinated triangles the length of which is measured with 

prescribed accuracy and precision and from which lengths of the other triangle sides are obtained 

by computation. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Information collected before or at the start of a project or program that provides a basis for 

planning and/or assessing subsequent progress and impact.

USAID Glossary of Evaluation Terms 

Basic Undertakings

The essential things, expressed in broad terms, that must be done in order to implement the 

commander’s concept successfully. These may include military, diplomatic, economic, 

informational, and other measures. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Settlement) 

The measure against which parties should judge the proposed terms of any mediated or 

negotiated agreement. 

USIP Peace Terms 

14
Any negotiator should determine his or her BATNA before agreeing to any negotiated 

settlement. If the settlement is as good as or better than one's BATNA, the agreement should be 

accepted. If the alternative is better, it should be pursued instead of the negotiated settlement. 

When one party's BATNA is good (or even if they just think it is good), they are unlikely to be 

willing to enter into negotiations, preferring instead to pursue their alternative option. 

Multiple Sources

Battle Damage Assessment (BDA)

The estimate of damage resulting from the application of lethal or nonlethal military force. Battle 

damage assessment is composed of physical damage assessment, functional damage assessment, 

and target system assessment. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Battlespace

The environment, factors, and conditions that must be understood to successfully apply combat 

power, protect the force, or complete the mission. This includes the air, land, sea, space, and the 

included enemy and friendly forces; facilities; weather; terrain; the electromagnetic spectrum; 

and the information environment within the operational areas and areas of interest. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Battlespace Awareness 

Knowledge and understanding of the operational area’s environment, factors, and conditions, to 

include the status of friendly and adversary forces, neutrals and noncombatants, weather and 

terrain, that enables timely, relevant, comprehensive, and accurate assessments, in order to 

successfully apply combat power, protect the force, and/or complete the mission. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Benchmark 

A standard against which results are measured. 

USAID Glossary of Evaluation Terms 

Beneficiaries 

The individuals, groups, or organizations that benefit from an intervention, project, or program. 

USAID Glossary of Evaluation Terms 

Best Practices 

Methods, approaches, and tools that have been demonstrated to be effective, useful, and 

replicable. 

USAID Glossary of Evaluation Terms 

15
Bias 

The extent to which a measurement, sampling, or analytic method systematically underestimates 

or overestimates the true value of a variable or attribute.

USAID Glossary of Evaluation Terms 

Biological Agent

A microorganism that causes disease in personnel, plants, or animals, or causes the deterioration 

of materiel. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Biological Defense

The methods, plans, and procedures involved in establishing and executing defensive measures 

against attacks using biological agents. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Biological Hazard 

An organism or substance derived from an organism that poses a threat to human or animal 

health. This can include medical waste, samples of a microorganism, virus, or toxin (from a 

biological source) that can impact human health. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Biological Weapon 

An item of materiel which projects, disperses, or disseminates a biological agent including 

arthropod vectors. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Biological Warfare 

Employment of biological agents to produce casualties in personnel or animals, or damage to 

plants or materiel. Also the defense against such employment. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Black List

An official counterintelligence listing of actual or potential enemy collaborators, sympathizers, 

intelligence suspects, and other persons whose presence menaces the security of friendly forces. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

16
Booby Trap

An explosive or nonexplosive device or other material deliberately placed to cause casualties 

when an apparently harmless object is disturbed or a normally safe act is performed. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

A device designed, constructed or adapted to kill or injure, which functions when a person 

disturbs or approaches an apparently harmless object or performs an apparently safe act. 

NATO AAP-6 

Editor’s Note: Although this term remains in official glossaries, it largely has been replaced by 

the more commonly used term ‘improvised explosive device’, for which these definitions equally 

apply. 

Branch 

1. A subdivision of any organization. 

2. A geographically separate unit of an activity, which performs all or part of the primary 

functions of the parent activity on a smaller scale. 

3. An arm or service of the Army. 

4. The contingency options built into the base plan. A branch is used for changing the mission, 

orientation, or direction of movement of a force to aid success of the operation based on 

anticipated events, opportunities, or disruptions caused by enemy actions and reactions. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Part of a NATO headquarters division responsible for a major functional area. 

NATO AAP-6

Brevity Code 

A code which provides no security but which has as its sole purpose the shortening of messages 

rather than the concealment of their content.

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Buddy Aid 

Acute medical care (first aid) provided by a non-medical service member or [personnel] to 

another person. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Buffer Zone 

A defined area controlled by a peace operations force from which disputing or belligerent forces 

have been excluded. A buffer zone is formed to create an area of separation between disputing or 

belligerent forces and reduce the risk of renewed conflict. Also called area of separation in some 

United Nations operations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

17
Bureau

The basic organizational entity – either geographic or functional – of the State Department; 

headed by an Assistant Secretary responsible for directing the work of various "offices" or 

"country directors." 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms 

18
C 

Cable 

A confidential text message exchanged between a diplomatic mission, such as an embassy or a 

consulate, and the State Department. 

DoS website 

Cache

A source of subsistence and supplies, typically containing items such as food, water, medical 

items, and/or communications equipment, packaged to prevent damage from exposure and 

hidden in isolated locations by such methods as burial, concealment, and/or submersion, to 

support isolated personnel. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Call for Fire 

A request for fire containing data necessary for obtaining the required fire on a target. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Editor’s Note: A call for fire is normally associated with a request for indirect (mortar or 

artillery) support from a military unit engaged with enemy forces. 

Call Sign 

Any combination of characters or pronounceable words, which identifies a communication 

facility, a command, an authority, an activity, or a unit; used primarily for establishing and 

maintaining communications. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Campaign

A series of related major operations aimed at achieving strategic and operational objectives 

within a given time and space. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

A set of military operations planned and conducted to achieve a strategic objective within a 

given time and geographical area, which normally involve maritime, land and air forces. 

NATO AAP-6 

19
Campaign Plan

A joint operation plan for a series of related major operations aimed at achieving strategic or 

operational objectives within a given time and space. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Campaign Planning

The process whereby combatant commanders and subordinate joint force commanders translate 

national or theater strategy into operational concepts through the development of an operation 

plan for a campaign. Campaign planning may begin during contingency planning when the 

actual threat, national guidance, and available resources become evident, but is normally not 

completed until after the President or Secretary of Defense selects the course of action during 

crisis action planning. Campaign planning is conducted when contemplated military operations 

exceed the scope of a single major joint operation. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Capability 

The ability to execute a specified course of action. (A capability may or may not be accompanied 

by an intention.) 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

1. The extent of someone‘s or something’s ability. 

2. Forces or resources giving a country or state the ability to undertake a particular kind of 

military action. 

Oxford Dictionary 

Capability-Based Planning 

A planning methodology that identifies and provides capabilities that the joint warfighter and 

supporting defense entities need to address a range of challenges. 

DoD Directive 7045.20 

Capacity 

The ability of people, institutions, and societies to perform functions, solve problems, and set and 

achieve objectives. The term was originally applied to institutions – hence the related term 

institution building – but more recently it has been applied to a wide range of stakeholders, 

including individuals. At the individual level, capacity refers to the knowledge and skills that 

people have acquired by study or experience. At the organizational level, capacity refers to 

management structures, processes, systems, and practices as well as an institution’s relationships 

with other organizations and sectors including public, private, and community organizations. 

USIP Peace Terms

20
Capacity Building

Programs and actions intended to enable the efficient and effective transfer of best practices and 

capabilities – skills, expertise, procedures, laws, regulations, systems, equipment, and technology 

– to strengthen the economic, political, and security capability of partner states. 

DoS Multiple Sources 

Denotes targeted efforts to improve the collective capabilities and performance of the 

Department of Defense and its partners. Partnership capacity includes, but is not limited to, the 

capability to: defeat terrorist networks; defend the US homeland in depth; shape the choices of 

countries at strategic crossroads; prevent hostile states and non-state actors from acquiring or 

using WMD; conduct irregular warfare (IW) and stabilization, security, transition and 

reconstruction (SSTR) operations; conduct “military diplomacy”; enable host countries to 

provide good governance; enable the success of integrated foreign assistance. 

Department of Defense BPC Roadmap 

Enabling people, organizations, and societies to develop, strengthen, and expand their abilities to 

meet their goals or fulfill their mandates. Capacity is strengthened through the transfer of 

knowledge and skills that enhance individual and collective abilities to deliver services and carry 

out programs that address challenges in a sustainable way. It is a long-term and continuous 

process that focuses on developing human resources, organizational strength, and legal 

structures, and it involves all stakeholders including civil society. 

USIP Peace Terms 

A process by which individuals, institutions and societies develop abilities, individually and 

collectively, to perform functions, solve problems and set and achieve their goals. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

The development of individual and collective abilities or capabilities to transform conflict from 

violence, into a positive, constructive force. Capacity-building may also include the development 

of non-governmental organizations and other institutions (local government, judiciary, etc.) 

which enable society to handle conflict constructively and without recourse to violence. 

International Alert Code of Conduct: Conflict Transformation Work 

Capacity Development 

The process by which individuals, organizations, institutions and societies develop abilities 

(individually and collectively) to perform functions, solve problems and set and achieve 

objectives. 

UN Development Program website 

21
CARVER 

A special operations forces acronym used throughout the targeting and mission planning cycle to 

assess mission validity and requirements. The acronym stands for criticality, accessibility, 

recuperability, vulnerability, effect and recognizability. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Casualty

Any person who is lost to the organization by having been declared dead, duty status – 

whereabouts unknown, missing, ill or injured. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

In relation to personnel, any person who is lost to his organization by reason of having been 

declared dead, wounded, diseased, detained, captured or missing. 

NATO AAP-6 

Casualty Status

A term used to classify a casualty for reporting purposes. There are seven casualty statuses: (1) 

deceased; (2) duty status - whereabouts unknown; (3) missing; (4) very seriously ill or injured; 

(5) seriously ill or injured; (6) incapacitating illness or injury; and (7) not seriously injured. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Casualty Type 

A term used to identify a casualty for reporting purposes as either a hostile casualty or a 

nonhostile casualty. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Catastrophic Event

Any natural or man-made incident, including terrorism, which results in extraordinary levels of 

mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the population, infrastructure, 

environment, economy, national morale, and/or government functions. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Caveat 

In NATO operations, any limitation, restriction or constraint by a nation on its military forces or 

civilian elements under NATO command and control or otherwise available to NATO, that does 

not permit NATO commanders to deploy and employ these assets fully in line with the approved 

operation plan. Note: A caveat may apply inter alia to freedom of movement within the joint 

operations area and/or to compliance with the approved rules of engagement. 

NATO AAP-6

22
Cease Fire

1. A command given to any unit or individual firing any weapon to stop engaging the target. 

2. A command given to air defense artillery units to refrain from firing on, but to continue to 

track, an airborne object. Missiles already in flight will be permitted to continue to intercept. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Cease-fire: A suspension of armed conflict agreed to by both sides. It may be aimed at freezing 

the conflict in place, in which case it is often called a cessation of hostilities agreement. Or it 

may be a formal cease-fire with more elaborate terms and provisions including external 

monitoring, often undertaken as part of a larger negotiated settlement. 

USIP Peace Terms 

A temporary suspension of fighting, typically one during which peace talks take place; a truce. 

Oxford Dictionary 

Center of Gravity (COG)

The source of power that provides moral or physical strength, freedom of action, or will to act. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Characteristics, capabilities or localities from which a nation, an alliance, a military force or 

other grouping derives its freedom of action, physical strength or will to fight. 

NATO AAP-6 

Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) 

A United Nations emergency relief fund officially launched on March 9, 2006, by SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan. The objective of the CERF is to provide urgent and effective humanitarian 

aid to regions threatened by, or experiencing, a humanitarian crisis. The CERF was adopted by 

resolution of the General Assembly on December 15, 2005, and upgrades the loan mechanism 

under the 1992 Central Emergency Revolving Fund from US $50 million to a total of around 

$450 million. The CERF is administered by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian 

Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator in consultation with humanitarian agencies and 

coordinators. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

 

Editor’s Note: CERF should not be confused with a similar US term, Commander’s Emergecy 

Response Program (CERP), the definition for which is also provided in this lexicon. 

Chain of Command 

The succession of commanding officers from a superior to a subordinate through which 

command is exercised. Also called command channel. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

23
Challenge

Any process carried out by one unit or person with the object of ascertaining the friendly or 

hostile character or identity of another. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Chancery 

Principal office of an embassy (building housing the Ambassador's office). 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms 

Chargé d'Affaires

French, literally "in charge of affairs." The designation of the officer – normally the Deputy 

Chief of Mission – who is temporarily in charge of an Embassy when the Ambassador is out of 

the country. Usually followed by the letters "a.i.," which stands for the Latin "ad interim." 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms 

Chemical Defense

The methods, plans, and procedures involved in establishing and executing defensive measures 

against attack utilizing chemical agents. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Chemical Hazard 

Any chemical manufactured, used, transported, or stored which can cause death or other harm 

through toxic properties of those materials. This includes chemical agents and chemical weapons 

(prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention), as well as toxic industrial chemicals and 

toxic industrial materials. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Chemical Warfare 

 

All aspects of military operations involving the employment of lethal and incapacitating 

munitions/agents and the warning and protective measures associated with such offensive 

operations. Since riot control agents and herbicides are not considered to be chemical warfare 

agents, those two items will be referred to separately or under the broader term “chemical,” 

which will be used to include all types of chemical munitions/agents collectively. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Chemical Weapon 

Together or separately, (a) a toxic chemical and its precursors, except when intended for a 

purpose not prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention; (b) a munition or device, 

specifically designed to cause death or other harm through toxic properties of those chemicals 

24
specified in (a), above, which would be released as a result of the employment of such munition 

or device; (c) any equipment specifically designed for use directly in connection with the 

employment of munitions or devices specified in (b), above. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Chief of Mission (COM) 

With the title of Ambassador, Minister, or Charge d'Affaires, the COM heads the mission's 

"country team" of U.S. Government personnel. Responsibilities of Chiefs of Mission also 

include speaking with one voice to others on U.S. policy – and ensuring mission staff do 

likewise – while providing to the President and Secretary of State expert guidance and frank 

counsel; directing and coordinating all executive branch offices and personnel (except for those 

under the command of a U.S. area military commander, under another chief of mission, or on the 

staff of an international organization); cooperating with the U.S. legislative and judicial branches 

so that U.S. foreign policy goals are advanced, security is maintained, and executive, legislative, 

and judicial responsibilities are carried out; reviewing communications to or from mission 

elements; taking direct responsibility for the security of the mission--including security from 

terrorism--and protecting all U.S. Government personnel on official duty (other than those 

personnel under the command of a U.S. area military commander) and their dependents; 

carefully using mission resources through regular reviews of programs, personnel, and funding 

levels; reshaping the mission to serve American interests and values and to ensure that all 

executive branch agencies attached to the mission do likewise; serving Americans with 

professional excellence, the highest standards of ethical conduct, and diplomatic discretion. 

DoS website 

The principal officer (the ambassador) in charge of a diplomatic facility of the U.S., including 

any individual assigned to be temporarily in charge of such a facility. The chief of mission is the 

personal representative of the President to the country of accreditation. The chief of mission is 

responsible for the direction, coordination, and supervision of all U.S. Government executive 

branch employees in that country (except those under the command of a U.S. area military 

commander). The security of the diplomatic post is the chief of mission’s direct responsibility. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Citizen Diplomacy 

Unofficial contacts between people of different countries, as differentiated from official contacts 

between governmental representatives. Citizen diplomacy includes exchanges of people (such as 

student exchanges); international religious, scientific, and cultural activities; and unofficial 

dialogues, discussions, or negotiations between citizens of opposing countries, which is usually 

referred to as track II diplomacy. In the latter case, citizens in the United States may seek 

authorization from the federal government, to comply with the Logan Act, which prohibits 

unauthorized U.S. citizens from interfering in relations between the United States and foreign 

governments. 

USIP Peace Terms 

25
Civil Administration

An administration established by a foreign government in (1) friendly territory, under an 

agreement with the government of the area concerned, to exercise certain authority normally the 

function of the local government; or (2) hostile territory, occupied by United States forces, where 

a foreign government exercises executive, legislative, and judicial authority until an indigenous 

civil government can be established. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Civil Affairs 

Active and Reserve component military forces and units organized, trained, and equipped 

specifically to conduct civil affairs activities and to support civil-military operations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

A civilian component of a UN-integrated mission with a role to engage and assist local civilian 

authorities and communities in efforts to consolidate peace by restoring the political, legal, 

economic and social infrastructures that support democratic governance and economic 

development. In missions that have a transitional administration mandate, the Civil Affairs

component can become a civil administration, responsible for directly managing all aspects of 

civilian life while simultaneously working to devolve its responsibilities to local authorities. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Civil Affairs Activities 

Actions and operations performed to: (a) enhance the relationship between military forces and 

civil authorities in areas where military forces are present; and (b) involve application of civil 

affairs functional specialty skills, in areas normally the responsibility of civil government, to 

enhance conduct of civil-military operations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Civil Considerations

The influence of manmade infrastructure, civilian institutions, and attitudes and activities of the 

civilian leaders, populations, and organizations within an area of operations on the conduct of 

military operations. 

U.S. Army FM 6-0 

Civil Damage Assessment

An appraisal of damage to a nation’s population, industry, utilities, communications, 

transportation, food, water and medical resources to support planning for national recovery. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

26
Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) 

The coordination and cooperation, in support of the mission, between the NATO Commander 

and civil actors, including the national population and local authorities, as well as international, 

national and non-governmental organizations and agencies. 

NATO AAP-6

A broad term that covers a variety of collaborative relationships between civilian and military 

actors in a conflict environment. Civilian actors may include government officials, staff from 

international organizations, and representatives of nongovernmental organizations. Civ-mil 

cooperation ranges from occasional informational meetings to comprehensive programs where 

civilian and military partners share planning and implementation. Cooperation can be 

controversial, as the military may see civilians as unduly complicating their mission, and 

civilians - especially in the humanitarian field - may think that any association with the military 

will compromise their impartiality and threaten their personal safety. However, most experts see 

civ-mil cooperation as necessary to provide the security, knowledge, and skills needed to help 

transform a conflict into an enduring peace. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Civil-Military Liaison 

A staff function in UN-integrated missions that deals with the interaction between the military 

and civilian actors. The purpose of CML is to facilitate links between the military and various 

civilian actors and de-conflict activities. It does not seek to provide a buffer between these two 

elements. It does not have the capability, nor does it seek to replace direct interaction, for 

example as part of the normal intelligence, current operations management, and planning 

functions, elsewhere in military or joint mission structures. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Civil-Military Operations (CMO) 

The activities of a commander that establish, maintain, influence, or exploit relations between 

military forces, governmental and nongovernmental civilian organizations and authorities, and 

the civilian populace in a friendly, neutral, or hostile operational area in order to facilitate 

military operations, to consolidate and achieve operational U.S. objectives. Civil-military 

operations may include performance by military forces of activities and functions normally the 

responsibility of the local, regional, or national government. These activities may occur prior to, 

during, or subsequent to other military actions. They may also occur, if directed, in the absence 

of other military operations. Civil-military operations may be performed by designated civil 

affairs, by other military forces, or by a combination of civil affairs and other forces. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Civil-Military Operations Center (CMOC)

An ad hoc organization, normally established by the geographic combatant commander or 

subordinate joint force commander, to assist in the coordination of activities of engaged military 

27
forces, and other United States Government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and 

regional and intergovernmental organizations. There is no established structure, and its size and 

composition are situation dependent. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Civil Requirements 

The necessary production and distribution of all types of services, supplies, and equipment 

during periods of armed conflict or occupation to ensure the productive efficiency of the civilian 

economy and to provide to civilians the treatment and protection to which they are entitled under 

customary and conventional international law. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Civil Society 

The collective entity composed of NGOs, social movements, and professional and voluntary 

associations that functions independent of the state. Civil society occupies a public space 

between citizen and government and between economy and state. It creates a network of pressure 

groups able to resist the holders of state power, if necessary. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

A collective term for a wide array of nongovernmental and non-profit groups that help their 

society at large function while working to advance their own or others’ well-being. It can include 

civic, educational, trade, labor, charitable, media, religious, recreational, cultural, and advocacy 

groups, as well as informal associations and social movements. In theory, its institutional forms 

are distinct from those of the state, family, and market, though in practice, the boundaries are 

often blurred. A strong civil society, or “public space,” can protect individuals and groups 

against intrusive government and positively influence government behavior. Most definitions do 

not include commercial enterprises but do include business associations. Some definitions do not 

consider the media, most of which is for profit, to be part of civil society but rather a tool that 

can promote civil society. 

USIP Peace Terms

Refers to structures independent from governments such as non-governmental organizations and 

human rights groups, independent activists and human rights defenders, religious congregations, 

charities, universities, trade unions, legal associations, families and clans. Domestic civil society 

represents one of the most critical sources of humanitarian assistance and civilian protection 

during humanitarian emergencies. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Civil Support

Department of Defense support to US civil authorities for domestic emergencies, and for 

designated law enforcement and other activities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

28
Civil War 

A large-scale armed conflict within a country fought either for control of all or part of the state, 

for a greater share of political or economic power, or for the right to secede. Analysts differ on 

how to define “large-scale,” but several sources say a conflict must cause at least 1,000 warrelated deaths a year to be labeled a civil war. 

USIP Peace Terms

Civilian Populations 

Groups of unarmed people, including women, children, the sick and elderly, refugees and 

internally displaced persons, who are not directly engaged in the armed conflict. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

Civilianization 

The transfer of responsibilities, functions, or posts from military personnel to civilian staff. 

NATO AAP-6 

Clandestine Operation

An operation sponsored or conducted by governmental departments or agencies in such a way as 

to assure secrecy or concealment. A clandestine operation differs from a covert operation in that 

emphasis is placed on concealment of the operation rather than on concealment of the identity of 

the sponsor. In special operations, an activity may be both covert and clandestine and may focus 

equally on operational considerations and intelligence-related activities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Operation related to intelligence, counter-intelligence and other similar activities, sponsored or 

conducted in such a way as to assure secrecy or concealment. 

NATO AAP-6 

Classified Information

Official information that has been determined to require, in the interests of national security, 

protection against unauthorized disclosure and which has been so designated. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Close Support 

That action of the supporting force against targets or objectives which are sufficiently near the 

supported force as to require detailed integration or coordination of the supporting action with 

the fire, movement, or other actions of the supported force. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

29
Close Air Support (CAS)

Air action by fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft against hostile targets that are in close proximity to 

friendly forces and that require detailed integration of each air mission with the fire and 

movement of those forces. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Coalition

An ad hoc arrangement between two or more nations for common action. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

A partnership between two or more states sharing common national security interests. A 

relatively stable coalition that has been formalized in treateis is termed an alliance. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

Coalition Action

Multinational action outside the bounds of established alliances, usually for single occasions or 

longer cooperation in a narrow sector of common interest. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Coherence 

Refers to close co-operation and consistency in policy across government departments and 

between donor agencies in responding to violent conflict. 

UK DFID Glossary 

Cold Chain 

The refrigerated transportation system for vaccines from the manufacturer to the individual. 

USAID Field Operations Guide

Collateral Damage

Unintentional or incidental injury or damage to persons or objects that would not be lawful 

military targets in the circumstances ruling at the time. Such damage is not unlawful so long as it 

is not excessive in light of the overall military advantage anticipated from the attack. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Inadvertent casualties and destruction in civilian areas caused by military operations. 

NATO AAP-6 

30
Collective Self-Defense

Collective self-defense is the act of defending other designated non-US forces. Only the 

President or Secretary of Defense may authorize US forces to exercise the right of collective 

self-defense. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Combat Assessment 

The determination of the overall effectiveness of force employment during military operations. 

Combat assessment is composed of three major components: (a) battle damage assessment; (b) 

munitions effectiveness assessment; and (c) reattack recommendation. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Combat Intelligence

That knowledge of the enemy, weather, and geographical features required by a commander in 

the planning and conduct of combat operations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Combat and Operational Stress

The expected and predictable emotional, intellectual, physical, and/or behavioral reactions of 

Service members who have been exposed to stressful events in war or military operations other 

than war. Combat stress reactions vary in quality and severity as a function of operational 

conditions, such as intensity, duration, rules of engagement, leadership, effective 

communication, unit morale, unit cohesion, and perceived importance of the mission. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) 

The tactics, techniques, and procedures performed by forces to affect the recovery of isolated 

personnel during combat. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Combat Support 

Fire support and operational assistance provided to combat elements. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Combat Surveillance 

A continuous, all-weather, day-and-night, systematic watch over the battle area in order to 

provide timely information for tactical combat operations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

31
Combat Survival

Those measures to be taken by Service personnel when involuntarily separated from friendly 

forces in combat, including procedures relating to individual survival, evasion, escape, and 

conduct after capture. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Combatant 

A person who takes an active part in hostilities, who can kill, and who, in turn, is a lawful 

military target. S/he can be a member of the armed forces, other than medical personnel and 

chaplains, or of any other organized armed group. 

NATO AAP-6 

Combatants are obliged to distinguish themselves from the civilian population while they are 

engaged in an attack or in a military operation preparatory to an attack. Recognizing, however, 

that there are situations in armed conflicts where, owing to the nature of the hostilities an 

armed combatant cannot so distinguish himself, he shall retain his status as a combatant, 

provided that, in such situations, he carries his arms openly during each military engagement, 

and during such time as he is visible to the adversary while he is engaged in a military 

deployment preceding the launching of an attack in which he is to participate. 

1977 Protocol to Geneva Conventions 

Combatant Command 

A unified or specified command with a broad continuing mission under a single commander 

established and so designated by the President, through the Secretary of Defense and with the 

advice and assistance of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Combatant commands 

typically have geographic or functional responsibilities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Combating Terrorism 

Actions, including antiterrorism (defensive measures taken to reduce vulnerability to terrorist 

acts) and counterterrorism (offensive measures taken to prevent, deter, and respond to terrorism), 

taken to oppose terrorism throughout the entire threat spectrum. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Combined

Between two or more forces or agencies of two or more allies. (When all allies or services are 

not involved, the participating nations and services shall be identified, e.g., combined navies.) 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

32
Adjective used to describe activities, operations and organizations, in which elements of more 

than one nation participate. 

NATO AAP-6 

Command 

The authority, which a commander in the military service lawfully exercises over his 

subordinates by virtue of rank or assignment. Command includes the authority and responsibility 

for employing, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling military forces for the 

accomplishment of assigned missions. It also includes responsibility for health, welfare, morale, 

and discipline of assigned personnel. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

1. The authority vested in an individual of the armed forces for the direction, coordination, and 

control of military forces. 

2. A unit, group of units, organization, or area under the authority of a single individual. 

NATO AAP-6 

Command and Control (C2) 

The exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned and 

attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission. Command and control functions are 

performed through an arrangement of personnel, equipment, communications, facilities, and 

procedures employed by a commander in planning, directing, coordinating, and controlling 

forces and operations in the accomplishment of the mission. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Commander’s Emergency Response Program (CERP) 

Funds used by military commanders to use for conducting rebuilding and reconstruction during 

operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. CERP enables local commanders to respond to urgent, smallscale, humanitarian relief, and reconstruction projects and services that immediately assist the 

indigenous population and that the local population or government can sustain. 

Multiple Sources

Common-user Transportation 

Transportation and transportation services provided on a common basis for two or more 

Department of Defense agencies and, as authorized, non-Department of Defense agencies. 

Common-user assets are under the combatant command (command authority) of Commander, 

United States Transportation Command, excluding Service-organic or theater-assigned 

transportation assets. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

33
Communications Intelligence (COMINT) 

Technical information and intelligence derived from foreign communications by other than the 

intended recipients. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Communications Security (COMSEC) 

The protection resulting from all measures designed to deny unauthorized persons information of 

value that might be derived from the possession and study of telecommunications, or to mislead 

unauthorized persons in their interpretation of the results of such possession and study. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Community Organizing 

Community organizing is a process through which an expert helps a group of individuals engage 

in collective action to address a social problem. Community organizers help people work 

together to get what they want or need: they may help people work together to get more jobs in a 

community; they may help people fight an unfair government law or ruling; or they may help 

people work together to force a polluter to clean up their industrial process so it no longer 

pollutes the environment as badly. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Complex Contingency Operations 

Large-scale peace operations (or elements thereof) conducted by a combination of military forces 

and nonmilitary organizations that involve one or more of the elements of peace operations that 

include one or more elements of other types of operations such as foreign humanitarian 

assistance, nation assistance, support to insurgency, or support to counterinsurgency. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Complex Emergency 

A multifaceted humanitarian crisis in a country, region or society where there is a total or 

considerable breakdown of authority resulting from internal or external conflict and which 

requires a multi-sectoral, international response that goes beyond the mandate or capacity of any 

single agency and/or the ongoing UN country program. Such emergencies have, in particular, a 

devastating effect on children and women, and call for a complex range of responses. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Complex Operation 

An overseas stability operation, a security operation, a transition and reconstruction operation, a 

counterinsurgency operation, or an operation consisting of irregular warfare involving both 

military forces and civil agencies. 

U.S. Congress NDAA09 

34
Complicating Factors

Conflict complicating factors are dynamics such as communication problems or escalation 

which, while common, are usually extraneous parts of the conflict which confuse the core issues 

in the conflict and make them more difficult to understand and deal with. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Concept of Operations 

A verbal or graphic statement that clearly and concisely expresses what the joint force 

commander intends to accomplish and how it will be done using available resources. The 

concept is designed to give an overall picture of the operation. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

A clear and concise statement of the line of action chosen by a commander in order to 

accomplish his mission. 

NATO AAP-6 

Concept Plan 

In the context of joint operations planning, an operation plan in an abbreviated format that may 

require considerable expansion or alteration to convert it into a complete operation plan or 

operation order. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Conciliation 

The process by which a third party attempts to broker a solution to a dispute by assisting the 

parties to it to define the facts of a dispute and to reach an agreement on the trade-offs necessary 

to resolve it. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

Efforts by a third party to improve the relationship between two or more disputants. It may be 

done as a part of mediation, or independently. Generally, the third party will work with the 

disputants to correct misunderstandings, reduce fear and distrust, and generally improve 

communication between the parties in conflict. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Condition

Those variables of an operational environment or situation in which a unit, system, or individual 

is expected to operate and may affect performance. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

35
Cone 

One of the five functional specialties into which Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) are grouped at 

entry into the Foreign Service. The cones are: consular, economic, administrative, political, and 

public diplomacy. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms 

Conflict 

An armed struggle or clash between organized groups within a nation or between nations in 

order to achieve limited political or military objectives. Although regular forces are often 

involved, irregular forces frequently predominate. Conflict often is protracted, confined to a 

restricted geographic area, and constrained in weaponry and level of violence. Within this state, 

military power in response to threats may be exercised in an indirect manner while supportive of 

other instruments of national power. Limited objectives may be achieved by the short, focused, 

and direct application of force. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

An inevitable aspect of human interaction, conflict is present when two or more individuals or 

groups pursue mutually incompatible goals. Conflicts can be waged violently, as in a war, or 

nonviolently, as in an election or an adversarial legal process. When channeled constructively 

into processes of resolution, conflict can be beneficial. 

USIP Peace Terms 

A serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one. 

Oxford Dictionary 

Conflict Management

A general term that describes efforts to prevent, limit, contain, or resolve conflicts, especially 

violent ones, while building up the capacities of all parties involved to undertake peacebuilding. 

It is based on the concept that conflicts are a normal part of human interaction and are rarely 

completely resolved or eliminated, but they can be managed by such measures as negotiation, 

mediation, conciliation, and arbitration. Conflict management also supports the longer-term 

development of societal systems and institutions that enhance good governance, rule of law, 

security, economic sustainability, and social well-being, which helps prevent future conflicts. A 

closely related term is peacemaking, although peacemaking tends to focus on halting ongoing 

conflicts and reaching partial agreements or broader negotiated settlements. 

USIP Study Guide 

This term refers to the long-term management of intractable conflicts and the people involved in 

them so that they do not escalate out of control and become violent. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

36
Conflict Prevention

A peace operation employing complementary diplomatic, civil, and, when necessary, military 

means, to monitor and identify the causes of conflict, and take timely action to prevent the 

occurrence, escalation, or resumption of hostilities. Activities aimed at conflict prevention are 

often conducted under Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter. Conflict prevention can include 

fact-finding missions, consultations, warnings, inspections, and monitoring. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

A peace support operation employing complementary diplomatic, civil, and, when necessary, 

military means, to monitor and identify the causes of conflict, and take timely action to prevent 

the occurrence, escalation, or resumption of hostilities. 

NATO AAP-6 

This term is used most often to refer to measures taken to keep low-level or long-festering 

disputes from escalating into violence, but it can also apply to efforts to limit the spread of 

violence if it does occur, or to avoid the reoccurrence of violence. It may include early warning 

systems, confidence-building measures (hotlines, notification of troop movements), preventive 

deployment, and sanctions. Sometimes referred to as preventive diplomacy. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Conflict prevention involves the application of structural or diplomatic measures to keep intrastate or inter-state tensions and disputes from escalating into violent conflict. Ideally, it should 

build on structured early warning, information gathering and a careful analysis of the factors 

driving the conflict. Conflict prevention activities may include the use of the SecretaryGeneral’s “good offices,” preventive deployment or confidence-building measures. 

UN Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines 

Conflict Resolution 

Efforts to address the underlying causes of a conflict by finding common interests and 

overarching goals. It includes fostering positive attitudes and generating trust through 

reconciliation initiatives, and building or strengthening the institutions and processes through 

which the parties interact peacefully. 

USIP Peace Terms 

This term (along with dispute resolution) usually refers to the process of resolving a dispute or a 

conflict permanently, by providing each sides' needs, and adequately addressing their interests so 

that they are satisfied with the outcome. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

The process of building bridges between hostile communities, working to clarify issues which 

represent points of confrontation between them and creating opportunities for developing new 

relationships based upon a process of peaceful change and grass-roots level reconciliation. 

International Alert Code of Conduct: Conflict Transformation Work 

37
Conflict Transformation 

A recently developed concept that emphasizes addressing the structural roots of conflict by 

changing existing patterns of behavior and creating a culture of nonviolent approaches. It 

proposes an integrated approach to peacebuilding that aims to bring about long-term changes in 

personal, relational, structural, and cultural dimensions. Recognizing that societies in conflict 

have existing systems that still function, conflict transformation focuses on building up local 

institutions as well as reducing drivers of conflict. 

USIP Peace Terms 

A term used to refer to a change (usually an improvement) in the nature of a conflict – a deescalation or a reconciliation between people or groups. The concept of conflict transformation 

reflects the notion that conflicts go on for long periods of time, changing the nature of the 

relationships between the people involved, and themselves changing as people's responses to the 

situation develops over time. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

The process by which people change situations, relationships or structures so that they become 

less violent, less conflictual and less unjust. It involves exploring alternative and more peaceful 

ways of settling differences and disputes. By focusing on the processes by which conflict 

develops into violence, it addresses the root causes of violent conflicts in order to prevent their 

emergence or resurgence. In International Alert’s experience, conflict transformation 

encompasses work undertaken to prevent or resolve violent conflicts.

International Alert Code of Conduct: Conflict Transformation Work 

Consequence Management 

Actions taken to maintain or restore essential services and manage and mitigate problems 

resulting from disasters and catastrophes, including natural, manmade, or terrorist incidents. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Construct Validity 

The degree of agreement between a theoretical concept (e.g. peace and security, economic 

development) and the specific measures (e.g. number of wars, GDP) used as indicators of the 

phenomenon; that is the extent to which some measure (e.g., number of wars, GDP) adequately 

reflects the theoretical construct (e.g., peace and security, economic development) to which it is 

tied. 

USAID Glossary of Evaluation Terms 

Content Validity 

The degree to which a measure or set of measures adequately represents all facets of the 

phenomena it is meant to describe. 

USAID Glossary of Evaluation Terms 

38
Constabulary Force 

A specialized unit trained and equipped to operate in peace operations, providing police-type 

functions like crowd control in high-threat environments where traditional police tactics would 

be ineffective but the use of military forces would be too lethal. The unit is equipped in military 

fashion but operates as police. In some countries, constabulary units are permanent forces that 

deal with such high-violence situations as fighting the mafia or terrorism. 

USIP Peace Terms

Consul 

An official agent sent by a state to reside in a foreign territory to assist and see to the general 

protection of its nationals there. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

An official appointed by a government to live in a foreign city and protect and promote the 

government's citizens and interests there 

Oxford Dictionary 

Consul General 

The head of consulate general or the chief of a large consular section in an embassy. The title 

ranks with that of a counselor, but consuls general are often much senior in personal rank than 

counselors of embassy. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

A large consulate headed by a Consul General and capable of performing a wider variety of 

consular and reporting functions than a consulate. 

Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide 

A consul of the highest status, stationed in a major city and supervising other consuls in the 

district. 

Oxford Dictionary 

Consulate 

A Foreign Service Post engaged primarily in consular work; officers assigned have consular 

titles. Consulates are usually constituent posts of an Embassy, either within the Embassy itself or 

in some other city in the foreign country. While consulates engage in routine reporting, they 

carry out no diplomatic or representational functions vis-à-vis the host government. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms

Constituents/Constituency 

Constituents or one's constituency refers to the people a decision maker represents. The 

constituents of a governmental leader are the citizens he or she represents in Parliament or other 

39
legislative body. The constituents of a negotiator are the people he or she is negotiating for; 

members of a union, perhaps, or of an interest group or business. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Constraint

In the context of joint operation planning, a requirement placed on the command by a higher 

command that dictates an action, thus restricting freedom of action. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Constructive Conflict 

Refers to a conflict which has more benefits than costs – one that pulls people together, 

strengthens and/or improves their relationship (by redefining it in a more appropriate or useful 

way) and one that leads to positive change in all of the parties involved. It is contrasted with 

destructive conflict which has largely negative results – pushing people apart, destroying 

relationships, and leading to negative changes including an escalation of violence, fear, and 

distrust. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Contingency 

A situation requiring military operations in response to natural disasters, terrorists, subversives, 

or as otherwise directed by appropriate authority to protect US interests. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Contingency Contracting 

The process of obtaining goods, services, and construction via contracting means in support of 

contingency operations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Contingency Operation 

A military operation that is either designated by the Secretary of Defense as a contingency 

operation or becomes a contingency operation as a matter of law. Under Title 10 United States 

Code, Section 101 [a][13][B], a contingency operation exists if a military operation results in the 

(1) call-up to (or retention on) active duty of members of the Uniformed Services; and (2) the 

call-up to (or retention on) active duty of members of the Uniformed Services during war or 

national emergency declared by the President or Congress. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

40
Contingency Plan 

A plan which is developed for possible operations where the planning factors have been 

identified or can be assumed. This plan is produced in as much detail as possible, including the 

resources needed and deployment options, as a basis for subsequent planning. 

NATO AAP-6 

Contingency Planning

The Joint Operation Planning and Execution System planning activities that occur in non-crisis 

situations. The Joint Planning and Execution Community uses contingency planning to develop 

operation plans for a broad range of contingencies based on requirements identified in the 

Contingency Planning Guidance, Joint Strategic Capabilities Plan, or other planning directive. 

Contingency planning underpins and facilitates the transition to crisis action planning. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

A management tool used to ensure that adequate arrangements are made in anticipation of a 

crisis. This is achieved primarily through engagement in a planning process leading to a plan of 

action, together with follow-up actions. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Continuity of Operations (COOP) 

The degree or state of being continuous in the conduct of functions, tasks, or duties necessary to 

accomplish a military action or mission in carrying out the national military strategy. It includes 

the functions and duties of the commander, as well as the supporting functions and duties 

performed by the staff and others acting under the authority and direction of the commander. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Contracting Officer 

A US military officer, enlisted member, or government employee who has a valid appointment 

as a contracting officer under the provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. The 

individual has the authority to enter into and administer contracts and determinations as well as 

findings about such contracts. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Contribution Agreement 

An agreement with a State sending or contributing personnel and equipment to a peacekeeping 

operation, based on the Model Contribution Agreement adopted by the UN General Assembly in 

1991. The Model Contribution Agreement outlines the troop size, equipment, type of force, etc. 

and other responsibilities of the troop contributing country. It also cross references the Model 

SOFA, specifying that peacekeeping personnel shall enjoy the privileges and immunities 

provided for in the SOFA and that questions relating to jurisdiction over personnel for criminal 

41
offences and civil liability shall be settled according to the SOFA procedures. Furthermore, it 

provides that responsibility for disciplinary action with respect to military personnel made 

available by the participating State shall rest with that State, and that it shall keep the UN's Head 

of Mission informed regarding the outcome of such exercise of jurisdiction. Peacekeepers remain 

in their national service while a part of a peacekeeping operation, but are acting under the 

command and operational control of the UN, as exercised by the UN's Head of Mission. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Control 

Authority that may be less than full command exercised by a commander over part of the 

activities of subordinate or other organizations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

The power to influence or direct people's behavior or the course of events. 

Oxford Dictionary 

Convoy 

A group of vehicles organized for the purpose of control and orderly movement with or without 

escort protection that moves over the same route at the same time and under one commander.

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Cooperating Agency 

An agency that provides technical and resource support (including planning, training, and 

exercising), at the request of the coordinating agency, to conduct operations using their own 

authorities, subject-matter experts, capabilities or resources (i.e., personnel, equipment, or other 

resource support). The Department of Defense is considered a cooperating agency for the 

majority of the National Response Plan support annexes. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Cooperative Approach 

A peacemaking approach by which disputants work together to solve a mutual problem. A 

cooperative situation is one in which the goals of the participants are so linked that any 

participant can attain his goal if, and only if, the others with whom he is linked can attain their 

goals. It is contrasted with a competitive approach in which it is assumed that it is impossible to 

win, unless the other side loses. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Coordinate 

The harmonious and effective working together of people and organizations towards a common 

goal. 

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Handbook for Emergencies 

42
1. To bring the different elements of (a complex activity or organization) into a relationship that 

will ensure efficiency or harmony. 

2. To negotiate with others in order to work together effectively. 

Oxford Dictionary 

Coordinating Agency 

An agency that supports the incident management mission by providing the leadership, expertise, 

and authorities to implement critical and specific aspects of the response. Responsible for 

orchestrating a coordinated response, provides staff for operations functions, notifies and tasks 

cooperating agencies, manages tasks with cooperating agencies, works with private-sector 

organizations, communicates ongoing activities to organizational elements, plans for short- and 

long-term incident management and maintains trained personnel to execute their appropriate 

support responsibilities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Core Issues 

We distinguish between core issues in a conflict, which are the fundamental interests, values, and 

needs which are in conflict with each other, and complicating factors, which are dynamics such 

as communication problems or escalation which, while common, are usually extraneous parts of 

the conflict which confuse the core issues and make them more difficult to understand and deal 

with. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Costing 

Costing is the process of assessing the costs and benefits of a particular action; not only in 

monetary terms, but in terms of time, resources, emotional energy, and other intangible effects 

on people's lives. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Counselor 

A diplomatic title accorded to a head of section in the Embassy, as "Counselor for Political 

Affairs" or "Political Counselor" (for which the acronym is POLCOUNS). (N.B. Do not confuse 

diplomatic ranks like "Counselor" with the Senior Foreign Service pay grades of "Counselor," 

"Minister-Counselor," "Career Minister," and "Career Ambassador," which correspond to the top 

four grades of the Senior Intelligence Service and the Senior Executive Service.) 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms

Counterattack 

Attack by part or all of a defending force against an enemy attacking force, for such specific 

purposes as regaining ground lost or cutting off or destroying enemy advance units, and with the 

general objective of denying to the enemy the attainment of the enemy’s purpose in attacking. In 

43
sustained defensive operations, it is undertaken to restore the battle position and is directed at 

limited objectives. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Counterdrug 

Those active measures taken to detect, monitor, and counter the production, trafficking, and use 

of illegal drugs. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Counterdrug Activities 

Those measures taken to detect, interdict, disrupt, or curtail any activity that is reasonably related 

to illicit drug trafficking. This includes, but is not limited to, measures taken to detect, interdict, 

disrupt, or curtail activities related to substances, materiel, weapons, or resources used to finance, 

support, secure, cultivate, process, or transport illegal drugs. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Counterdrug Operations 

Civil or military actions taken to reduce or eliminate illicit drug trafficking. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Counterespionage 

That aspect of counterintelligence designed to detect, destroy, neutralize, exploit, or prevent 

espionage activities through identification, penetration, manipulation, deception, and repression 

of individuals, groups, or organizations conducting or suspected of conducting espionage 

activities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Counterforce 

The employment of strategic air and missile forces in an effort to destroy, or render impotent, 

selected military capabilities of an enemy force under any of the circumstances by which 

hostilities may be initiated. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Counterguerrilla Warfare 

Operations and activities conducted by armed forces, paramilitary forces, or nonmilitary 

agencies against guerrillas. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

44
Counterinsurgency (COIN) 

Those military, paramilitary, political, economic, psychological, and civic actions taken by a 

government to defeat insurgency. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Counterintelligence 

Information gathered and activities conducted to protect against espionage, other intelligence 

activities, sabotage, or assassinations conducted by or on behalf of foreign governments or 

elements thereof, foreign organizations, or foreign persons, or international terrorist activities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Counterintelligence counters or neutralizes intelligence collection efforts through collection, 

counterintelligence investigations, operations, analysis and production, and functional and 

technical services. Counterintelligence includes all actions taken to detect, identify, exploit, and 

neutralize the multidiscipline intelligence activities of friends, competitors, opponents, 

adversaries, and enemies, and is the key intelligence community contributor to protect the United 

States’ interests and equities. 

U.S. Army FM 2-0 

Those activities which are concerned with identifying and counteracting the threat to security 

posed by hostile intelligence services or organizations or by individuals engaged in espionage, 

sabotage, subversion or terrorism. 

NATO AAP-6 

Countermeasures

That form of military science that, by the employment of devices and/or techniques, has as its 

objective the impairment of the operational effectiveness of enemy activity. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Countermine Operation

In land mine warfare, an operation to reduce or eliminate the effects of mines or minefields. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Countermove 

An operation undertaken in reaction to or in anticipation of a move by the enemy. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

45
Counterpropaganda Operations

Those psychological operations activities that identify adversary propaganda, contribute to 

situational awareness, and serve to expose adversary attempts to influence friendly populations 

and military forces. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Counteroffensive 

A large scale offensive undertaken by a defending force to seize the initiative from the attacking 

force. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Countersabotage

That aspect of counterintelligence designed to detect, destroy, neutralize, or prevent sabotage 

activities through identification, penetration, manipulation, deception, and repression of 

individuals, groups, or organizations conducting or suspected of conducting sabotage activities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Countersubversion

That aspect of counterintelligence designed to detect, destroy, neutralize, or prevent subversive 

activities through identification, exploitation, penetration, manipulation, deception, and 

repression of individuals, groups, or organizations conducting or suspected of conducting 

subversive activities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Countersurveillance

All measures, active or passive, taken to counteract hostile surveillance. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Counterterrorism (CT)

Operations that include the offensive measures taken to prevent, deter, preempt, and respond to 

terrorism. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

All offensive measures taken to neutralize terrorism before and after hostile acts are carried out. 

Such measures include those counterforce activities justified for the defence of individuals as 

well as containment measures implemented by military forces or civilian organizations. Related 

term: anti-terrorism. 

NATO AAP-6 

46
Country Desk 

The basic country organization of the Department of State office, each "desk" is headed by a 

Country Desk Officer and sometimes includes several other persons. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms 

Country Team

The senior, in-country, US coordinating and supervising body, headed by the chief of the US 

diplomatic mission, and composed of the senior member of each represented US department or 

agency, as desired by the chief of the US diplomatic mission. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Agency heads and other senior advisors of the Ambassador. Meets at intervals determined by the 

Ambassador. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms 

Coup de Main

An offensive operation that capitalizes on surprise and simultaneous execution of supporting 

operations to achieve success in one swift stroke. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Course of Action (COA) 

1. Any sequence of activities that an individual or unit may follow. 

2. A possible plan open to an individual or commander that would accomplish, or is related to 

the accomplishment of the mission. 

3. The scheme adopted to accomplish a job or mission. 

4. A line of conduct in an engagement. 

5. A product of the Joint Operation Planning and Execution System concept development phase 

and the course-of-action determination steps of the joint operation planning process. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Covenant 

A morally binding agreement between two or more parties, committing them to do or refrain 

from doing certain things. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

Covert Operation

An operation that is so planned and executed as to conceal the identity of or permit plausible 

denial by the sponsor. A covert operation differs from a clandestine operation in that emphasis is 

placed on concealment of the identity of the sponsor rather than on concealment of the operation. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

47
Credibility

Refers to whether or not a person or a statement is believed or trusted. Sometimes leaders or 

expert witnesses are not considered by the public to be credible because they have a personal 

interest in the outcome of a situation or a conflict which would likely influence their views 

and/or statements about that situation or conflict. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Crisis

An incident or situation involving a threat to a nation, its territories, citizens, military forces, 

possessions, or vital interests that develops rapidly and creates a condition of such diplomatic, 

economic, political, or military importance that commitment of military forces and resources is 

contemplated to achieve national objectives. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Crisis Action Planning 

One of the two types of joint operation planning. The Joint Operation Planning and Execution 

System process involving the time-sensitive development of joint operation plans and operation 

orders for the deployment, employment, and sustainment of assigned and allocated forces and 

resources in response to an imminent crisis. Crisis action planning is based on the actual 

circumstances that exist at the time planning occurs. 

Deparment of Defense Joint Pub 1-02 

Crisis Management 

Measures to identify, acquire, and plan the use of resources needed to anticipate, prevent, and/or 

resolve a threat or an act of terrorism. It is predominately a law enforcement response, normally 

executed under federal law. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

The coordinated actions taken to defuse crises, prevent their escalation into an armed conflict, 

and contain hostilities if they should result. 

NATO AAP-6 

The attempt to control events during a crisis to prevent significant and systematic violence from 

occurring or escalating. It usually involves finding a balance between coercion and 

accommodation. 

USIP Peace Terms 

48
Critical Asset

A specific entity that is of such extraordinary importance that its incapacitation or destruction 

would have a very serious, debilitating effect on the ability of a nation to continue to function 

effectively. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Culture

A feature of the terrain that has been constructed by man. Included are such items as roads, 

buildings, and canals; boundary lines; and, in a broad sense, all names and legends on a map. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

The shared beliefs, traits, attitudes, behavior, products, and artifacts common to a particular 

social or ethnic group. The term cross-cultural refers to interactions across cultures and reflects 

the fact that different cultures may have different communication styles and negotiating 

behavior. The term multicultural refers to the acceptance of different ethnic cultures within a 

society. Cultural sensitivity means being aware of cultural differences and how they affect 

behavior, and moving beyond cultural biases and preconceptions to interact effectively. 

USIP Peace Terms 

The customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other 

social group; the attitudes and behaviors characteristic of a particular social group. 

Oxford Dictionary 

Cyber Counterintelligence

Measures to identify, penetrate, or neutralize foreign operations that use cyber means as the 

primary tradecraft methodology, as well as foreign intelligence service collection efforts that use 

traditional methods to gauge cyber capabilities and intentions. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Cyberspace

A global domain within the information environment consisting of the interdependent network of 

information technology infrastructures, including the Internet, telecommunications networks, 

computer systems, and embedded processors and controllers. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

49
D 

Damage Assessment 

1. The determination of the effect of attacks on targets. 

2. A determination of the effect of a compromise of classified information on national security. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

. 

Damage Control

In naval usage, measures necessary aboard ship to preserve and reestablish watertight integrity, 

stability, maneuverability, and offensive power; to control list and trim; to effect rapid repairs of 

materiel; to limit the spread of and provide adequate protection from chemical, biological, and 

radiological agents; and to provide for care of wounded personnel. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Deception 

Those measures designed to mislead the enemy by manipulation, distortion, or falsification of 

evidence to induce the enemy to react in a manner prejudicial to the enemy’s interests. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Decisive Point 

A geographic place, specific key event, critical factor, or function that, when acted upon, allows 

commanders to gain a marked advantage over an adversary or contribute materially to achieving 

success. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

De-escalation 

De-escalation is the opposite of escalation. It is the ratcheting down of the intensity of a conflict 

which occurs as parties tire out, or begin to realize that the conflict is doing them more harm than 

good. They then may begin to make concessions, or reduce the intensity of their attacks, moving 

slowly toward an eventual negotiated resolution. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

De Facto Boundary

An international or administrative boundary whose existence and legality is not recognized, but 

which is a practical division between separate national and provincial administering authorities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

50
De Jure Boundary 

An international or administrative boundary whose existence and legality is recognized. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

De-humanization 

This is the psychological process of demonizing the enemy, making them seem less than human 

and hence not worthy of humane treatment. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Deliberate Attack 

A type of offensive action characterized by preplanned coordinated employment of firepower 

and maneuver to close with and destroy or capture the enemy. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02.

Deliberate Planning 

1. The Joint Operation Planning and Execution System process involving the development of 

joint operation plans for contingencies identified in strategic planning documents. Conducted 

principally in peacetime, deliberate planning is accomplished in prescribed cycles that 

complement other Department of Defense planning cycles in accordance with the formally 

established Joint Strategic Planning System. 

2. A planning process for the deployment and employment of apportioned forces and resources 

that occurs in response to a hypothetical situation. Deliberate planners rely heavily on 

assumptions regarding the circumstances that will exist when the plan is executed. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Demarche 

A request or intercession with a foreign official; e.g., a request for support of a policy, a protest 

about the host government's policy or actions. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms 

Demilitarized Zone 

A defined area in which the stationing or concentrating of military forces, or the retention or 

establishment of military installations of any description, is prohibited. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

51
Demining

The removal of all unexploded mines, explosive ordnance, improvised explosive devices and 

booby traps from a defined area to make the area safe for civilians. Demining is not normally 

conducted by military units. 

NATO AAP-6

Demobilization

The process of transitioning a conflict or wartime military establishment and defense-based 

civilian economy to a peacetime configuration while maintaining national security and economic 

vitality. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

The act of changing from a state of war to a state of peace, including disbanding or discharging 

troops. To release someone from service in an armed force, e.g., after a war. Demobilization 

entails either disbanding an armed unit, reducing the number of combatants or an interim stage 

before reassembling new armed forces. 

SCRS Lessons Learned 

The formal and controlled discharge of active combatants from armed forces or other armed 

groups. The first stage may extend frpom the processing of individual combatants in temporary 

centers to the massing of troops in camps designed for the purpose. The second stage 

encompasses the support package provided to the demobolized, which is called reinsertion. 

UN DDR Resource Center 

Denial Measure 

An action to hinder or deny the enemy the use of territory, personnel, or facilities. It may include 

destruction, removal, contamination, or erection of obstructions. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Department of Defense Civilian

A Federal civilian employee of the Department of Defense directly hired and paid from 

appropriated or non-appropriated funds, under permanent or temporary appointment. Specifically 

excluded are contractors and foreign host nationals as well as third country civilians. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Desk Officer

Officer responsible for a specific country or countries in the geographic bureaus of the 

Department of State. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms

52
Destroyed

A condition of a target so damaged that it can neither function as intended nor be restored to a 

usable condition. In the case of a building, all vertical supports and spanning members are 

damaged to such an extent that nothing is salvageable. In the case of bridges, all spans must have 

dropped and all piers must require replacement. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Destructive Conflict/Destructive Confrontation 

Destructive conflict/confrontation has largely negative results – it pushes people apart, destroys 

relationships, and leads to a host of negative personal and social changes including an escalation 

of violence, fear, and distrust. It is contrasted with constructive conflict/confrontation which has 

more benefits than costs – one that pulls people together, strengthens and/or improves their 

relationship (by redefining it in a more appropriate or useful way), and one that leads to positive 

change in all of the parties involved. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Detainee 

A term used to refer to any person captured or otherwise detained by an armed force. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Development 

In general, development is the process of improving people’s lives. Originally, the term focused 

on the goal of greater economic prosperity and opportunity. But it now typically includes efforts 

at human development that take into account such issues as governance, education, the 

environment, and human rights. 

USIP Peace Terms

Development Aid

Assistance given to developing countries to support their economic, social, and political 

development. Such assistance usually comes from individual countries or from international 

organizations such as the UN Development Program and the World Bank Group. Development 

aid tends to be aimed at long-term problems such as poverty, whereas humanitarian aid is usually 

aimed at short-term problems such as providing clean water or food. Tied aid refers to the 

practice by most donors of insisting that aid be spent on goods and services from the donor 

country. Conditional aid refers to assistance that comes with specific requirements that the 

recipient must meet, such as reducing corruption or fighting terrorism; it is meant to change 

behavior. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, environmental, social 

and political development of developing countries, and primarily designed to promote economic 

53
growth and the equitable distribution of its benefits. It is distinguished from humanitarian aid by 

focusing on alleviating poverty in the long term, rather than a short term response. 

Multiple Sources 

Dialogue 

A conversation or exchange of ideas that seeks mutual understanding through the sharing of 

perspectives. Dialogue is a process for learning about another group’s beliefs, feelings, interests, 

and needs in a non-adversarial, open way, usually with the help of a third-party facilitator. 

Facilitated dialogue is a face-to-face process, often among elites. It takes place at a meeting site, 

whereas other third-party assisted processes may occur indirectly or by means of proximity talks. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Diplomacy 

The fundamental means by which foreign policy is implemented. Official or track I diplomacy is 

typically carried out by government officials, who use bargaining, negotiation, and other 

peaceful means to negotiate treaties, trade policies, and other international agreements, including 

agreements to prevent, limit, manage, or settle conflicts. Unofficial or nonofficial (also called 

citizen or track II) diplomacy refers to the use of nontraditional diplomatic agents, including 

business executives, religious figures, nongovernmental organizations, academics, and other 

private citizens who are typically conducting dialogue and problem-solving activities. The term 

preventive diplomacy is sometimes used as a synonym for conflict prevention. 

USIP Peace Terms 

The pursuit of interests abroad by measures short of war. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

Generally, diplomacy refers to the interaction between two or more nation-states. Traditionally 

carried out by government officials, who negotiate treaties, trade policies, and other international 

agreements, the term has been extended to include unofficial exchanges of private citizens (such 

as cultural, scientific, and religious exchanges) as well as unofficial (sometimes called "citizen" 

or "track-two") diplomacy in which private citizens actually try to develop solutions to 

international diplomatic problems. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Direct Action 

Short-duration strikes and other small-scale offensive actions conducted as a special operation in 

hostile, denied, or politically sensitive environments and which employ specialized military 

capabilities to seize, destroy, capture, exploit, recover, or damage designated targets. Direct 

action differs from conventional offensive actions in the level of physical and political risk, 

operational techniques, and the degree of discriminate and precise use of force to achieve 

specific objectives. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

54
Direct Support 

A mission requiring a force to support another specific force and authorizing it to answer directly 

to the supported force’s request for assistance. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Disappearances

A euphemism for politically motivated murders or abductions, usually performed by or with the 

support of government or political organizations. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Disarmament

The reduction of a military establishment to some level set by international agreement. DoD 

Joint Pub 1-02 

The collection, documentation, control, and disposal of small arms, ammunition, explosives, and 

light and heavy weapons of combatants and often also of the civilina population. Disarmament 

also includes the development of responsible arms management programs. 

UN DDR Resource Center 

Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) 

The process of disarming soldiers or other fighters, disbanding their military units, and helping 

them integrate socially and economically into society by finding civilian livelihoods. This can be 

done by comprehensive programs offering skills training, job creation, housing, psychological 

assistance, and re-socialization. 

USIP Peace Terms 

A process of removing weapons from the hands of combatants, taking the combatants out of 

military structures and helping them to integrate socially and economically into society, DDR 

seeks to support ex-combatants so that they can become active participants in the peace process. 

UN DDR Resource Center 

Disarming Strategies 

Disarming strategies are actions that are designed to break down or challenge negative 

stereotypes. If one person or group is seen by another as extremely threatening and hostile, a 

gesture of friendship and goodwill is a disarming move, which will alter perceptions of the other 

and can significantly de-escalate the conflict. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

55
Disaster Assessment 

The collection of information to identify the magnitude and extent of the disaster and its effects 

on local populations. 

USAID Field Operations Guide

Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) 

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster 

Assistance (OFDA) has developed a response capability called the Disaster Assistance Response 

Team (DART) as a method of providing rapid response assistance to international disasters, as 

mandated by the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA). A DART is deployed to a disaster-stricken 

country at the discretion of the OFDA Director and with the concurrence of the U.S. Ambassador 

or Chief of Mission. The DART consists of specialists trained in a variety of disaster relief skills 

and assists the USAID Mission or U.S. Embassy with management of the U.S. Government 

(USG) response to the disaster. The activities of a DART vary depending on the type, size, and 

complexity of the disaster to which the DART is deployed. 

USAID Field Operations Guide 

Disaster Control

Measures taken before, during, or after hostile action or natural or man-made disasters to reduce 

the probability of damage, minimize its effects, and initiate recovery. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Disaster Response 

Sum of decisions and actions taken during and after a disaster, including immediate relief, 

rehabilitation and reconstruction. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Disengagement

In arms control, a general term for proposals that would result in the geographic separation of 

opposing nonindigenous forces without directly affecting indigenous military forces. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Dislocated Civilian 

A broad term that includes a displaced person, an evacuee, an expellee, an internally displaced 

person, a migrant, a refugee, or a stateless person. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

56
Displaced Person

A civilian who is involuntarily outside the national boundaries of his or her country. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Displacement

Forcible or voluntary uprooting of persons from their homes by violent conflicts, gross violations 

of human rights, natural disasters and other traumatic events or threats thereof. Internally 

displaced persons remain within the borders of their own country while refugees are forced to 

flee outside the borders of their state of nationality or residence for reasons based on a wellfounded fear of persecution on the grounds identified in the 1951 Refugee Convention or to flee 

conflict in the case of States Parties to the 1969 OAU Convention or 1984 Cartagena Declaration 

on Refugees. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Disputants 

Disputants are the people, groups, or organizations who are in conflict with each other. They are 

often also called "parties." Third parties, however, are not disputants, but rather people who 

intercede to try to help the disputants resolve the dispute. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Distribution 

1. The arrangement of troops for any purpose, such as a battle, march, or maneuver. 

2. A planned pattern of projectiles about a point. 

3. A planned spread of fire to cover a desired frontage or depth. 

4. An official delivery of anything, such as orders or supplies. 

5. The operational process of synchronizing all elements of the logistic system to deliver the 

“right things” to the “right place” at the “right time” to support the geographic combatant 

commander. 

6. The process of assigning military personnel to activities, units, or billets. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Doctrine

Fundamental principles by which the military forces or elements thereof guide their actions in 

support of national objectives. It is authoritative but requires judgment in application. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

1. A belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group. 

2. Stated principle of government policy, mainly in foreign or military affairs. 

Oxford Dictionary 

57
Do No Harm 

A maxim that acknowledges that any intervention carries with it the risk of doing harm. 

Practitioners should proceed with programs only after careful consideration and widespread 

consultation, including with other institutions in the field so as not to duplicate or undercut their 

efforts. In assistance activities, the maxim recognizes that resources inevitably represent the 

distribution of power and wealth and will create tensions if careful attention is not given to how 

they are distributed and delivered. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Humanitarian organizations must strive to "do no harm" or to minimize the harm they may be 

inadvertently doing by being present and providing assistance. Humanitarian actors need to be 

aware if aid is used as an instrument of war or if aid is an indirect part of the dynamics of 

conflict. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

Donor Coordination 

A term that describes efforts to integrate the work of donors, the host government, and local 

nongovernmental organizations so as to avoid duplication and inefficiencies. 

USIP Peace Terms

Donor Government 

Government intervening for historical diplomatic, economic, and political reasons by funding 

bilaterally or through intergovernmental/private organizations prior, during, and after emergency. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Double Agent

Agent in contact with two opposing intelligence services, only one of which is aware of the 

double contact or quasi-intelligence services. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Drug Interdiction

A continuum of events focused on interrupting illegal drugs smuggled by air, sea, or land. 

Normally consists of several phases – cueing, detection, sorting, monitoring, interception, 

handover, disruption, endgame, and apprehension – some which may occur simultaneously. DoD 

Joint Pub 1-02 

Dual Agent

One who is simultaneously and independently employed by two or more intelligence agencies, 

covering targets for both. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

58
Duty Status - Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN) 

A transitory casualty status, applicable only to military personnel, that is used when the 

responsible commander suspects the member may be a casualty whose absence is involuntary, 

but does not feel sufficient evidence currently exists to make a definite determination of missing 

or deceased. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

59
E 

Economic Action

The planned use of economic measures designed to influence the policies or actions of another 

state, e.g., to impair the war-making potential of a hostile power or to generate economic 

stability within a friendly power. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Economic Warfare

Aggressive use of economic means to achieve national objectives. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Effect 

1. The physical or behavioral state of a system that results from an action, a set of actions, or 

another effect. 

2. The result, outcome, or consequence of an action. 

3. A change to a condition, behavior, or degree of freedom. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Electromagnetic Spectrum 

The range of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation from zero to infinity. It is divided into 26 

alphabetically designated bands. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Electronic Attack

Division of electronic warfare involving the use of electromagnetic energy, directed energy, or 

antiradiation weapons to attack personnel, facilities, or equipment with the intent of degrading, 

neutralizing, or destroying enemy combat capability and is considered a form of fires. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Electronic Protection 

Division of electronic warfare involving actions taken to protect personnel, facilities, and 

equipment from any effects of friendly or enemy use of the electromagnetic spectrum that 

degrade, neutralize, or destroy friendly combat capability. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

60
Electronic Warfare 

Military action involving the use of electromagnetic and directed energy to control the 

electromagnetic spectrum or to attack the enemy. Electronic warfare consists of three divisions: 

electronic attack, electronic protection, and electronic warfare support. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Electronic Warfare Support (ES) 

Division of electronic warfare involving actions tasked by, or under direct control of, an 

operational commander to search for, intercept, identify, and locate or localize sources of 

intentional and unintentional radiated electromagnetic energy for the purpose of immediate threat 

recognition, targeting, planning and conduct of future operations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Embassy 

A diplomatic mission in the capital city of a foreign country headed by an Ambassador. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms 

Emergency Action Committee 

Organization established at a diplomatic post for the purpose of directing and coordinating the 

post’s response to emergency situations.

USAID Field Operations Guide 

Emergency Relief 

The immediate survival assistance to the victims of crisis and violent conflict. Most relief 

operations are initiated on short notice and have a short implementation period (project 

objectives are generally completed within a year). The main purpose of emergency relief is to 

save lives. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) 

The Emergency Relief Coordinator is the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and 

coordinates the international response to humanitarian emergencies and disasters. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Emissary 

A representative sent on an offical or unoffical mission or errand. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

61
Empowerment 

 

Empowerment means giving a person or group more power. This may be done by the party 

alone, through education, coalition building, community organizing, resource development, or 

advocacy assistance. It can also be done by a mediator, who can work with the lower power 

person or group to help them represent themselves more effectively. Although this approach 

causes ethical dilemmas (since helping one side more than another compromises a mediator's 

impartiality), it is quite commonly done in the problem-solving or "settlement-oriented" 

approach to mediation, since this approach works best when the two parties are relatively equal 

in power. Baruch Bush and Joe Folger, however, advocate the empowerment of both parties 

simultaneously through transformative mediation, which seeks to restore disputants' "sense of 

their own value and strength and their own capacity to handle life's problems." This approach 

avoids the ethical dilemmas of one-sided empowerment, though it sacrifices emphasis on 

achieving a settlement as primary.

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

End State

The set of required conditions that defines achievement of the commander’s objectives. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

The political and/or military situation to be attained at the end of an operation, which indicates 

that the objective has been achieved. 

NATO AAP-6

Enemy Capabilities

Those courses of action of which the enemy is physically capable and that, if adopted, will affect 

accomplishment of the friendly mission. The term “capabilities” includes not only the general 

courses of action open to the enemy, such as attack, defense, reinforcement, or withdrawal, but 

also all the particular courses of action possible under each general course of action. “Enemy 

capabilities” are considered in the light of all known factors affecting military operations, 

including time, space, weather, terrain, and the strength and disposition of enemy forces. In 

strategic thinking, the capabilities of a nation represent the courses of action within the power of 

the nation for accomplishing its national objectives throughout the range of military operations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Enemy Combatant 

In general, a person engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners 

during an armed conflict. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

62
Environmental Considerations 

The spectrum of environmental media, resources, or programs that may impact on, or are 

affected by, the planning and execution of military operations. Factors may include, but are not 

limited to, environmental compliance, pollution prevention, conservation, protection of historical 

and cultural sites, and protection of flora and fauna. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Escalation

A deliberate or unpremeditated increase in scope or violence of a conflict. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

An increase in intensity or scope of a conflict. The number of parties tends to increase, as does 

the number and breadth of the issues. De-escalation is the lessening of the intensity of a conflict 

as parties tire out or begin to realize that the conflict is doing them more harm than good, or as 

conflict management efforts begin to take effect. The ultimate intent of de-escalation is to create 

space for more intensive efforts to resolve the conflict. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Escapee

Any person who has been physically captured by the enemy and succeeds in getting free. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Essential Task 

In the context of joint operation planning, a specified or implied task that an organization must 

perform to accomplish the mission. An essential task is typically included in the mission 

statement. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Ethnic Cleansing 

Deliberate, organized, and usually violent expulsion of people from an area on the basis of their 

perceived ethnic, communal, sectarian, or religious identity. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Evacuation

1. Removal of a patient by any of a variety of transport means (air, ground, rail, or sea) from a 

theater of military operation, or between health service support capabilities, for the purpose of 

preventing further illness or injury, providing additional care, or providing disposition of patients 

from the military health care system. 

2. The clearance of personnel, animals, or materiel from a given locality. 

63
3. The controlled process of collecting, classifying, and shipping unserviceable or abandoned 

materiel, US or foreign, to appropriate reclamation, maintenance, technical intelligence, or 

disposal facilities. 

4. The ordered or authorized departure of noncombatants from a specific area by Department of 

State, Department of Defense, or appropriate military commander. This refers to the movement 

from one area to another in the same or different countries. The evacuation is caused by unusual 

or emergency circumstances and applies equally to command or non-command sponsored family 

members. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Evacuee 

A civilian removed from a place of residence by military direction for reasons of personal 

security or the requirements of the military situation. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Evader 

Any person isolated in hostile or unfriendly territory who eludes capture. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Evaluation 

The systematic collection and analysis of data on a program, both as to the process and outputs 

(materials and activities) and the impact or outcome (immediate and longer term effects). 

USIP Peace Terms

Evasion 

The process whereby isolated personnel avoid capture with the goal of successfully returning to 

areas under friendly control. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Exclusion zone

A zone established by a sanctioning body to prohibit specific activities in a specific geographic 

area. The purpose may be to persuade nations or groups to modify their behavior to meet the 

desires of the sanctioning body or face continued imposition of sanctions, or use or threat of 

force. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Exfiltration

The removal of personnel or units from areas under enemy control by stealth, deception, 

surprise, or clandestine means. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

64
Expedition

A military operation conducted by an armed force to accomplish a specific objective in a foreign 

country. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Expeditionary Force

An armed force organized to accomplish a specific objective in a foreign country. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Expellee

A civilian outside the boundaries of the country of his or her nationality or ethnic origin who is 

being forcibly repatriated to that country or to a third country for political or other purposes. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Exploitation 

1.Taking full advantage of success in military operations, following up initial gains, and making 

permanent the temporary effects already achieved. 

2. Taking full advantage of any information that has come to hand for tactical, operational, or 

strategic purposes. 

3. An offensive operation that usually follows a successful attack and is designed to disorganize 

the enemy in depth. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Explosive Hazard 

Any hazard containing an explosive component. Explosive hazards include unexploded 

explosive ordnance (including land mines), booby traps (some booby traps are non-explosive), 

improvised explosive devices (which are an improvised type of booby trap), captured enemy 

ammunition, and bulk explosives. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Explosive Ordnance 

All munitions containing explosives, nuclear fission or fusion materials, and biological and 

chemical agents. This includes bombs and warheads; guided and ballistic missiles; artillery, 

mortar, rocket, and small arms ammunition; all mines, torpedoes, and depth charges; demolition 

charges; pyrotechnics; clusters and dispensers; cartridge and propellant actuated devices; electroexplosive devices; clandestine and improvised explosive devices; and all similar or related items 

or components explosive in nature. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

65
Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) 

The detection, identification, on-site evaluation, rendering safe, recovery, and final disposal of 

unexploded explosive ordnance. It may also include explosive ordnance which has become 

hazardous by damage or deterioration. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

External Support Contract

Contract awarded by contracting organizations whose contracting authority does not derive 

directly from the theater support contracting head(s) of contracting activity or from systems 

support contracting authorities. 

DoD Joint Pub 4-10

External Support Contractors

US national or third party contract personnel hired from outside the operational area. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Extremist 

Extremists are people who take extreme views – those which are much stronger, and often more 

fixed than other people's views of the same situation. In escalated conflicts, extremists may 

advocate violent responses, while more moderate disputants will advocate less extreme 

measures. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

A person who holds extreme or fanatical political or religious views, especially one who resorts 

to or advocates extreme action. 

Oxford Dictionary 

66
F 

Facilitation 

The process or set of skills by which a third party attempts to help the disputants move toward 

resolution of their dispute. Facilitation can operate at many levels, from providing good offices 

to a more active role as a mediator. It may mean helping the parties set ground rules and agendas 

for meetings, helping with communication between the parties, and analysis of the situation and 

possible outcomes—in general, helping the participants keep on track and working toward their 

mutual goals. It may also mean helping them set those goals. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Facilitation is done by a third party who assists in running consensus-building meetings. The 

facilitator typically helps the parties set ground rules and agendas, enforces both, and helps the 

participants keep on track and working toward their mutual goals. While similar to a mediator, a 

facilitator usually plays a less active role in the deliberations, and often does not see "resolution" 

as a goal of his or her work, as mediators usually do. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Failed State 

A state that is unable to provide reasonable public services, often because of war, genocide, 

corruption, mismanagement, or criminal threats. Some analysts use the term collapsed state to 

refer to a situation where national structures have essentially dissolved and there is an almost 

complete vacuum of authority. A weak or fragile state may be on the verge of failure because of 

instability and weak governance. 

USIP Peace Terms

Feasibility 

The joint operation plan review criterion for assessing whether the assigned mission can be 

accomplished using available resources within the time contemplated by the plan. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Feint

In military deception, an offensive action involving contact with the adversary conducted for the 

purpose of deceiving the adversary as to the location and/or time of the actual main offensive 

action. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

67
Fire Mission 

1. Specific assignment given to a fire unit as part of a definite plan. 

2. Order used to alert the weapon/battery and indicate that the message following is a call for 

fire. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Flexible Response

The capability of military forces for effective reaction to any enemy threat or attack with actions 

appropriate and adaptable to the circumstances existing. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Food Basket 

The particular selection of food commodities that is handled by the assistance operation and 

included in the rations distributed to the target beneficiaries. 

USAID Field Operations Guide 

Food Pipeline 

The various location points (port of origin, ship on high seas, port of entry, distribution system) 

and the amount of food going to an affected population.

USAID Field Operations Guide 

Force

1. An aggregation of military personnel, weapon systems, equipment, and necessary support, or 

combination thereof. 

2. A major subdivision of a fleet. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Force Multiplier

A capability that, when added to and employed by a combat force, significantly increases the 

combat potential of that force and thus enhances the probability of successful mission 

accomplishment. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Force Protection 

Actions taken to prevent or mitigate hostile actions against Department of Defense personnel (to 

include family members), resources, facilities, and critical information. These actions conserve 

the force’s fighting potential so it can be applied at the decisive time and place and incorporate 

the coordinated and synchronized offensive and defensive measures to enable the effective 

68
employment of the joint force while degrading opportunities for the enemy. Force protection 

does not include actions to defeat the enemy or protect against accidents, weather, or disease. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Foreign Aid/Assistance

Assistance to foreign nations ranging from the sale of military equipment to donations of food 

and medical supplies to aid survivors of natural and manmade disasters; US assistance takes 

three forms—development assistance, humanitarian assistance, and security assistance. DoD 

Joint Pub 1-02 

A technique of statecraft whereby economic and technical assistance are used as instruments of 

policy in order to achieve certain goals. There are three main types of foreign aid - humanitarian, 

military, and development. Aid may be bilateral or multilateral, the latter usually being 

channeled through an international body. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Foreign Disaster 

An act of nature (such as a flood, drought, fire, hurricane, earthquake, volcanic eruption, or 

epidemic), or an act of man (such as a riot, violence, civil strife, explosion, fire, or epidemic), 

which is or threatens to be of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant United States foreign 

disaster relief to a foreign country, foreign persons, or to an intergovernmental organization. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Foreign Disaster Assistance 

U.S. Government emergency assistance overseas to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and 

reduce the social and economic impact of natural and man-made disasters worldwide. 

USAID Multiple Sources

Foreign Disaster Relief 

Prompt aid that can be used to alleviate the suffering of foreign disaster victims. Normally it 

includes humanitarian services and transportation; the provision of food, clothing, medicine, 

beds, and bedding; temporary shelter and housing; the furnishing of medical materiel, and 

medical and technical personnel; and making repairs to essential services. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Foreign Humanitarian Assistance 

Programs conducted to relieve or reduce the results of natural or manmade disasters or other 

endemic conditions such as human pain, disease, hunger, or privation that might present a 

serious threat to life or that can result in great damage to or loss of property. Foreign 

humanitarian assistance (FHA) provided by US forces is limited in scope and duration. The 

foreign assistance provided is designed to supplement or complement the efforts of the host 

69
nation civil authorities or agencies that may have the primary responsibility for providing FHA. 

FHA operations are those conducted outside the United States, its territories, and possessions. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Foreign Intelligence 

Information relating to capabilities, intentions, and activities of foreign powers, organizations, or 

persons, but not including counterintelligence, except for information on international terrorist 

activities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Foreign Internal Defense (FID) 

Participation by civilian and military agencies of a government in any of the action programs 

taken by another government or other designated organization to free and protect its society from 

subversion, lawlessness, and insurgency. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Foreign Nation Support 

Civil and/or military assistance rendered to a nation when operating outside its national 

boundaries during military operations based on agreements mutually concluded between nations 

or on behalf of intergovernmental organizations. Support may come from the nation in which 

forces are operating. Foreign nation support also may be from third party nations and include 

support or assistance, such as logistics, rendered outside the operational area. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Forward Operating Base (FOB) 

A [military base or site] used to support tactical operations without establishing full support 

facilities. The base may be used for an extended time period. Support by a main operating base 

will be required to provide backup support for a forward-operating base. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Frames 

Frames are ways of defining a problem. Some people may define a problem in terms of rights, 

while others may define it in terms of interests or relative power. These different positions are 

sometimes referred to as different "frames." 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

 

Framing 

Framing is the process of defining what a problem is about. Just as a frame can be placed around 

a photograph, including some portions of the picture, but cropping other portions out, people can 

70
define some aspects of a problem as important, while they ignore (or are unaware of) other issues 

that do not concern them. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Freedom of Navigation Operations

Operations conducted to demonstrate US or international rights to navigate air or sea routes. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Friendly Fire

In casualty reporting, a casualty circumstance applicable to persons killed in action or wounded 

in action mistakenly or accidentally by friendly forces actively engaged with the enemy, who are 

directing fire at a hostile force or what is thought to be a hostile force. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

71
G 

Gender-based Violence 

Violence directed against individuals or groups on the basis of their gender or sex. It includes 

acts or threats of acts that inflict physical or mental harm or suffering, coercion, and other 

deprivations of liberty, including rape, torture, mutilation, sexual slavery, forced impregnation, 

and murder. Although men and boys can be victims of gender-based violence, women and girls 

are the primary victims. 

USIP Peace Terms

General and Complete Disarmament 

Reductions of armed forces and armaments by all states to levels required for internal security 

and for an international peace force. Connotation is “total disarmament” by all states. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

General Support 

1. That support which is given to the supported force as a whole and not to any particular 

subdivision thereof. 

2. A tactical artillery mission.

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

General War 

Armed conflict between major powers in which the total resources of the belligerents are 

employed, and the national survival of a major belligerent is in jeopardy. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Geneva Conventions 

The Geneva Conventions consist of four treaties, with subsequent additions and revisions. They 

set the widely accepted legal standards for humane treatment of noncombatants (medical and 

religious personnel and civilians) and combatants who are no longer able to fight, including the 

sick, wounded, and prisoners of war. The first convention was adopted in 1864 and the fourth in 

1949; the most recent protocol was added in 2005. 

USIP Peace Terms

Genocide

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as 

“any of a number of acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, 

ethnic, racial, or religious group: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental 

harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated 

72
to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent 

births within the group, and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.” 

USIP Peace Terms 

The deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or 

nation. 

Oxford Dictionary 

Good Offices 

Typically, low-key actions by a third party to bring opposing parties to dialogue or negotiation. 

Good offices may include informal consultations to facilitate communication; offer of 

transportation, security, or site of venue; or fact-finding. The third party may suggest ways into 

negotiations and a settlement but usually stops short of participating in negotiations. Norway’s 

role in the 1993 Oslo Accords concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a classic example of 

good offices. Mediation and conciliation tend to be more active roles than good offices. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Governance 

The exercise of authority to implement rules and policies in an effort to bring order to the social, 

political, economic, and judicial processes that allow a society to develop. Good governance 

involves a process that is informed and to a degree monitored by, and ultimately serves, all 

members of society. Good governance also implies a level of accountability and transparency, 

both of which will help to ameliorate the risk of corruption, a corrosive and destabilizing 

practice. 

USIP Peace Terms

Governing Factors

In the context of joint operation planning, those aspects of the situation (or externally imposed 

factors) that the commander deems critical to the accomplishment of the mission. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Guarantor 

A state, group of states, international organization, or other entity such as an alliance that is 

obliged to ensure the maintenance of an agreement, in some cases by the use of force. In its 

original usage, the term usually referred to a formal, legal commitment to take action in the event 

of a breach of obligations by a party to a treaty. In recent years, the term has been used more 

loosely to refer to a party that monitors or bears witness to an accord. 

USIP Peace Terms

73
Guerrilla

A combat participant in guerrilla warfare. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

A member of a small independent group taking part in irregular fighting, typically against larger 

regular forces. 

Oxford Dictionary 

Guerrilla Force

A group of irregular, predominantly indigenous personnel organized along military lines to 

conduct military and paramilitary operations in enemy-held, hostile, or denied territory. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Guerrilla Warfare

Military and paramilitary operations conducted in enemy-held or hostile territory by irregular, 

predominantly indigenous forces. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Warfare conducted by an irregular military or paramilitary unit using techniques such as 

harassment, sabotage, and surprise attacks against a more powerful force. Guerrilla groups may 

seize control of and live among unarmed civilian populations that are influenced to provide 

labor, food, and other supplies. Successful guerrilla campaigns are usually protracted and have 

the support of the local population as well as external assistance. 

USIP Peace Terms 

74
H 

Hard Bargaining 

This is a term used to refer to adversarial, competitive bargaining that assumes that the opponent 

is an enemy to be defeated, rather than a partner to be worked with cooperatively. Fisher and Ury 

contrast hard bargaining with soft bargaining (which is highly conciliatory to the point of giving 

in on important points). They contrast both these approaches with a third approach, principled 

negotiation, which is neither hard, nor soft, but rather integrative in its approach. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Harassment

An incident in which the primary objective is to disrupt the activities of a unit, installation, or 

ship, rather than to inflict serious casualties or damage. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Hasty Attack 

In land operations, an attack in which preparation time is traded for speed in order to exploit an 

opportunity. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Hazard 

A condition with the potential to cause injury, illness, or death of personnel; damage to or loss of 

equipment or property; or mission degradation. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

High-Payoff Target (HPT) 

A target whose loss to the enemy will significantly contribute to the success of the friendly 

course of action. High-payoff targets are those high-value targets that must be acquired and 

successfully attacked for the success of the friendly commander’s mission. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

High-Risk Personnel 

Personnel who, by their grade, assignment, symbolic value, or relative isolation, are likely to be 

attractive or accessible terrorist targets. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

75
High Side 

Editors Note: Although not officially recognized, this is a commonly used military colloquialism 

to indicate computer-based information systems containing classified information, usually at the 

secret level or above, protected by security protocols. Individuals seeking to access information 

“on the high side” normally require security clearances and permissions (special access cards 

or passwords) from the organization or agency managing the particular information system. 

Conversely, information “on the low side” would normally not require such permissions and 

may even be generally accessible to those without access approvals. 

High-Value Target (HVT) 

A target the enemy commander requires for the successful completion of the mission. The loss of 

high-value targets would be expected to seriously degrade important enemy functions throughout 

the friendly commander’s area of interest. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Host Country

A nation which permits, either by written agreement or official invitation, government 

representatives and/or agencies of another nation to operate, under specified conditions, within 

its borders. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Host Nation

A nation that receives the forces and/or supplies of allied nations, coalition partners, and/or 

NATO organizations to be located on, to operate in, or to transit through its territory. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Host-Nation Support

Civil and/or military assistance rendered by a nation to foreign forces within its territory during 

peacetime, crises or emergencies, or war based on agreements mutually concluded between 

nations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Hostage 

A person held as a pledge that certain terms or agreements will be kept. (The taking of hostages 

is forbidden under the Geneva Conventions, 1949.) 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

76
Hostile

In combat and combat support operations, an identity applied to a track declared to belong to any 

opposing nation, party, group, or entity, which by virtue of its behavior or information collected 

on it such as characteristics, origin, or nationality contributes to the threat to friendly forces. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Hostile Act

An attack or other use of force against the US, US forces, or other designated persons or 

property. It also includes force used directly to preclude or impede the mission and/or duties of 

US forces, including the recovery of US personnel or vital US Government property. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Hostile Casualty 

A person who is the victim of a terrorist activity or who becomes a casualty “in action.” “In 

action” characterizes the casualty as having been the direct result of hostile action, sustained in 

combat or relating thereto, or sustained going to or returning from a combat mission provided 

that the occurrence was directly related to hostile action. Included are persons killed or wounded 

mistakenly or accidentally by friendly fire directed at a hostile force or what is thought to be a 

hostile force. However, not to be considered as sustained in action and not to be interpreted as 

hostile casualties are injuries or death due to the elements, self-inflicted wounds, combat fatigue, 

and except in unusual cases, wounds or death inflicted by a friendly force while the individual is 

in an absent-without-leave, deserter, or dropped-from-rolls status or is voluntarily absent from a 

place of duty.

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Hostile Intent 

The threat of imminent use of force by a foreign force, terrorist(s), or organization against the 

United States and US national interests, US forces and, in certain circumstances, US nationals, 

their property, US commercial assets, and other designated non-US forces, foreign nationals, and 

their property. When hostile intent is present, the right exists to use proportional force, including 

armed force, in self-defense by all necessary means available to deter or neutralize the potential 

attacker or, if necessary, to destroy the threat. A determination that hostile intent exists and 

requires the use of proportional force in self-defense must be based on evidence that an attack is 

imminent. Evidence necessary to determine hostile intent will vary depending on the state of 

international and regional political tension, military preparations, intelligence, and indications 

and warning information. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

77
Human Development 

Human development is concerned with removing the various hindrances that restrain and restrict 

human lives and prevent it from blossoming. It is concerned with progress and augmentation. 

Commission on Human Security Final Report 

A human development approach...shift(s) the focus of development attention away from an 

overarching concentration on the growth of inanimate objects of convenience, such as 

commodities produced (reflected in the gross domestic product or the gross national product) to 

the quality and richness of human lives, which depend on a number of influences of which 

commodity production is only one. 

UNDP: A Human Rights-based Approach to Development Programming 

Human Factors

The psychological, cultural, behavioral, and other human attributes that influence decisionmaking, the flow of information, and the interpretation of information by individuals or groups. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Human Intelligence (HUMINT)

A category of intelligence derived from information collected and provided by human sources. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

The collection of information by a trained human intelligence collector from people and their 

associated documents and media sources to identify elements, intentions, composition, strength, 

dispositions, tactics, equipment, personnel, and capabilities. 

U.S. Army FM 3-24 

A category of intelligence derived from information collected and provided by human sources. 

NATO AAP-6 

Human Rights

The basic prerogatives and freedoms to which all humans are entitled. Supported by the United 

Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and several international agreements, 

these rights include the right to life, liberty, education, and equality before law, and the right of 

association, belief, free speech, religion, and movement. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Editor’s Note: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 established the principle 

that “the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human 

family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,” and lists, in thirty articles, 

the specific elements considered to be inalienable human rights. The full text of the Declaration 

is available on the internet at http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml. 

78
Human Security 

1. A fundamental departure from orthodox security analysis in which human beings and their 

complex social and economic relations are the primary referent object rather than the state. Thus, 

the main focus and starting point is understanding security in terms of the real-life everyday 

experiences of humanity rather than the experiences of territorially discrete sovereign states. 

2. Safety from such chronic threats such as hunger, disease, and repression, as well as protection 

from sudden and hurtful disruptions in the patterns of daily life, whether in homes, jobs or 

communities. Such threats can exist at all levels of national income and development. 

3. An underlying condition for sustainable human development. It results from the social, 

psychological, economic, and political aspects of human life that in times of acute crisis or 

chronic deprivation protect the survival of individuals, support individual and group capacities to 

attain minimally adequate standards of living, and promote constructive group attachment and 

continuity through time. Its key measurable components can be summarized as: a sustainable 

sense of home; constructive social and family networks; and an acceptance of the past and a 

positive grasp of the future. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

Core elements of human security – economic security, food security, health security, 

environmental security, personal security, community security and political security. 

UNDP A Human Rights-based Approach to Development Programming 

1. Protecting “the vital core of all human lives in ways that enhance human freedoms and human 

fulfillment... 

2. Protecting fundamental freedoms – freedoms that are the essence of life... 

3. Protecting people from critical (severe) and pervasive (widespread) threats and situations... 

4. Using processes that build on people’s strengths and aspirations... 

5. Creating political, social, environmental, economic, military and cultural systems that together 

give people the building blocks of survival, livelihood and dignity.” 

American Friends Service Committee Glossary 

Humanitarian Access 

Where protection is not available from national authorities or controlling non-state actors, 

vulnerable populations have a right to receive international protection and assistance from an 

impartial relief operation. Such action is subject to the consent of the State or parties concerned 

and does not prescribe coercive measures in the event of refusal, however unwarranted. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Humanitarian Aid/Assistance

As part of an operation, the use of available military resources to assist or complement the efforts 

of responsible civil actors in the operational area or specialized civil humanitarian organizations 

in fulfilling their primary responsibility to alleviate human suffering. 

NATO AAP-6 

79
Traditionally associated with natural disasters such as floods, fires, and famines, but more 

recently applied to other disasters such as social or political unrest, usually with the consent of 

the host country. Assistance can include providing food, shelter, clothing, and medicine and 

medical personnel; evacuating the most vulnerable; and restoring basic amenities (water, sewage, 

power supplies). Aid can be given during the emergency itself and in the rehabilitation phase. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Aid that seeks to save lives and alleviate suffering of a crisis-affected population. Humanitarian 

assistance must be provided in accordance with the basic humanitarian principles of humanity, 

impartiality and neutrality as stated in General Assembly Resolution 46/182 and with full respect 

for the sovereignty of States. Assistance may be divided into three categories – direct assistance, 

indirect assistance and infrastructure support – which have diminishing degrees of contact with 

the affected population. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Humanitarian and Civic Assistance (HCA)

Assistance to the local populace provided by predominantly US forces in conjunction with 

military operations and exercises. This assistance is specifically authorized by title 10, United 

States Code, section 401, and funded under separate authorities. Assistance provided under these 

provisions is limited to (1) medical, dental, and veterinary care provided in rural areas of a 

country; (2) construction of rudimentary surface transportation systems; (3) well drilling and 

construction of basic sanitation facilities; and (4) rudimentary construction and repair of public 

facilities. Assistance must fulfill unit training requirements that incidentally create humanitarian 

benefit to the local populace. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Humanitarian Coordination 

An approach based on the belief that a coherent response to an emergency will maximize its 

benefits and minimize potential pitfalls. In each country, the coordination of UN humanitarian 

assistance is entrusted to the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator. OCHA, under the 

direction of the Emergency Relief Coordinator, is responsible for the coordination of a 

humanitarian response in the event of a crisis and carries out this role according to the approved 

policies and structures set by the IASC. This coordination involves developing common 

strategies with partners both within and outside the UN system, identifying overall humanitarian 

needs, developing a realistic plan of action, monitoring progress and adjusting programs as 

necessary, convening coordination forums, mobilizing resources, addressing common problem to 

humanitarian actors, and administering coordination mechanisms and tools. It does not involve 

OCHA in the administration of humanitarian assistance.

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Humanitarian Demining 

Department of Defense and Department of State program to promote the foreign policy interests 

of the United States by assisting other nations in protecting their populations from landmines and 

80
clearing land of the threat posed by landmines remaining after conflict has ended. The 

humanitarian demining program includes training of host nation deminers, establishment of 

national demining organizations, provision of demining equipment, mine awareness training, and 

research development. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Humanitarian Emergency 

Situations in which large numbers of people are dependent on humanitarian assistance from 

sources external to their own society and/or are in need of physical protection in order to have 

access to subsistence or external assistance. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

Humanitarian Engagement

The involvement of humanitarian agencies and organizations within a complex emergency to 

deliver protection, assistance and relief.

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

Humanitarian Imperative

Implies a right to receive and to offer humanitarian assistance. Human suffering must be 

addressed wherever it is found, with particular attention to the most vulnerable in the population. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

Humanitarian Information Centers

A semi-permanent facility established by OCHA in cooperation with other agencies and NGOs 

during a complex emergency that serves as an information and data resource and provides 

infrastructure and professional services to humanitarian organizations as they implement relief 

and rehabilitation projects. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Humanitarian Intervention 

An intervention undertaken to protect unarmed civilian populations at risk. Some analysts use the 

term interchangeably with “military intervention”; others argue it should be reserved for the 

delivery of humanitarian aid. Broadly speaking, the term includes non-military as well as 

military interventions. 

USIP Peace Terms 

While there is no agreed upon international definition of "humanitarian intervention" yet, it is a 

doctrine generally understood to mean coercive action by States involving the use of armed force 

in another State without the consent of its government, with or without authorization from the 

UN Security Council, for the purpose of preventing or putting to a halt gross or massive 

81
violations of human rights or international humanitarian law. The UN's operation in Kosovo 

have all been termed humanitarian intervention. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Humanitarian Mine Action 

Activities that strive to reduce the social, economic, and environmental impact of land mines, 

unexploded ordnance and small arms ammunition – also characterized as explosive remnants of 

war. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Humanitarian Operation 

An operation specifically mounted to alleviate human suffering where responsible civil actors in 

an area are unable or unwilling to adequately support a population. It may precede, parallel, or 

complement the activity of specialized civil humanitarian organizations. 

NATO AAP-6 

Operations conducted to relieve human suffering, especially in circumstances where responsible 

authorities in the area are unable or unwilling to provide adequate service support to civilian 

populations. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Humanitarian Operations Center

An interagency policymaking body that coordinates the overall relief strategy and unity of effort 

among all participants in a large foreign humanitarian assistance operation. It normally is 

established under the direction of the government of the affected country or the United Nations, 

or a United States Government agency during a United States unilateral operation. The 

humanitarian operations center should consist of representatives from the affected country, the 

United States Embassy or Consulate, the joint force, the United Nations, nongovernmental and 

intergovernmental organizations, and other major players in the operation. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Humanitarian Operating Environment 

A key element for humanitarian agencies and organizations when they deploy, consists of 

establishing and maintaining a conducive humanitarian operating environment, sometimes 

referred to as "humanitarian space." The perception of adherence to the key operating principles 

of neutrality and impartiality in humanitarian operations represents the critical means by which 

the prime objective of ensuring that suffering must be met wherever it is found, can be achieved. 

Consequently, maintaining a clear distinction between the role and function of humanitarian 

actors from that of the military is the determining factor in creating an operating environment in 

which humanitarian organizations can discharge their responsibilities both effectively and safely. 

Sustained humanitarian access to the affected population is ensured when the receipt of 

82
humanitarian assistance is not conditional upon the allegiance to or support to parties involved in 

a conflict but is a right independent of military and political action. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

Humanitarian Space 

This means the ability of humanitarian agencies to work independently and impartially, without 

fear of attack in pursuit of the humanitarian imperative. 

UN Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines 

Hybrid Operation 

A peace operation involving the deployment of military, police or civilian personnel from two or 

more entities under a single structure. 

UN Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines 

83
I 

Identification 

1. The process of determining the friendly or hostile character of an unknown detected contact. 

2. In arms control, the process of determining which nation is responsible for the detected 

violations of any arms control measure. 

3. In ground combat operations, discrimination between recognizable objects as being friendly or 

enemy, or the name that belongs to the object as a member of a class. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Identity 

Identity refers to the way people see themselves - the groups they feel a part of, the aspects of 

themselves that they use to describe themselves. Some theorists distinguish between collective 

identity, social identity, and personal identity. However, all are related in one way or another to a 

description of who one is, and how one fits into his or her social group and society overall. 

Identity conflicts are conflicts that develop when a person or group feels that their sense of self is 

threatened or denied legitimacy or respect. Religious, ethnic, and racial conflicts are examples of 

identity conflicts. Identity politics tries to exploit those conflicts for political advantage. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Immediate Air Support 

Air support to meet specific requests which arise during the course of a battle and which by their 

nature cannot be planned in advance. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Immediate Mission Request 

A request for an air strike on a target that, by its nature, could not be identified sufficiently in 

advance to permit detailed mission coordination and planning. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Immediate Response 

Any form of immediate action taken to save lives, prevent human suffering, or mitigate great 

property damage under imminently serious conditions when time does not permit approval from 

a higher authority. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

84
Impartiality 

Regarding foreign aid, impartiality means assistance must be based on need alone, without 

regard to nationality, race, religion, class, or politics; it does not imply equal provision of aid, 

however. In mediation or peacekeeping, impartiality means treating the contending sides 

equitably and with fairness. 

USIP Peace Terms

Improvised Explosive Device (IED) 

A device placed or fabricated in an improvised manner incorporating destructive, lethal, noxious, 

pyrotechnic, or incendiary chemicals and designed to destroy, incapacitate, harass, or distract. It 

may incorporate military stores, but is normally devised from nonmilitary components. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Incident Management 

A national comprehensive approach to preventing, preparing for, responding to, and recovering 

from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies. Incident management includes 

measures and activities performed at the local, state, and national levels, and includes both crisis 

and consequence management activities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Indirect Assistance 

At least one step removed from the population – transporting relief goods, building camps and 

shelters, providing water sources, clearing mines and ordnance, etc. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

Inequality 

Social or economic disparity between people and groups; unequal opportunity based on social or 

economic disparity. 

American Friends Service Committee Glossary 

Infiltration 

1. The movement through or into an area or territory occupied by either friendly or enemy troops 

or organizations. The movement is made, either by small groups or by individuals, at extended or 

irregular intervals. When used in connection with the enemy, it implies that contact is avoided. 

2. In intelligence usage, placing an agent or other person in a target area in hostile territory. 

Usually involves crossing a frontier or other guarded line. Methods of infiltration are: black 

(clandestine); grey (through legal crossing point but under false documentation); and white 

(legal). 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

85
Infrastructure 

The system of public works of a country, state, or region, including buildings and equipment to 

support highways, airports, and facilities for waste treatment and water supply, electricity, and 

communications. Some analysts use the term more broadly to include political and socioeconomic aspects. 

USIP Peace Terms 

The basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g., buildings, roads, and power 

supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise. 

Oxford Dictionary 

Infrastructure Support

General services that facilitate relief, but are not necessarily visible to or solely for the benefit of 

the affected population – repairing infrastructure, operating airfields, providing weather info, 

ensuring access to communications networks, etc. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

Information Operations (IO) 

The integrated employment of the core capabilities of electronic warfare, computer network 

operations, psychological operations, military deception, and operations security, in concert with 

specified supporting and related capabilities, to influence, disrupt, corrupt or usurp adversarial 

human and automated decision making while protecting our own. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Instability 

A situation in which the parties perceive one another as enemies and maintain deterrent military 

capabilities, although armed force is not deployed. The threat of violence is absent or only 

sporadic. A balance of power may discourage aggression, but crisis and war are still possible. On 

the conflict curve, instability is located between peace and violent conflict. 

USIP Peace Terms

Instruments of National Power 

All of the means available to the government in its pursuit of national objectives. They are 

expressed as diplomatic, economic, informational and military. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Insurgency 

An organized movement aimed at the overthrow of a constituted government through use of 

subversion and armed conflict.

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

86
An organized movement aimed at the overthrow of a constituted government through use of 

subversion and armed conflict. 

NATO AAP-6 

Paramilitary, guerrilla, or other uprisings directed against a state from within in order to achieve 

political objectives. Insurgencies typically aim to either replace the current regime, or to secede 

from the state. Successful insurgencies have the support of the local population. For that reason, 

counter-insurgency efforts seek to separate the insurgents from the population by winning their 

“hearts and minds,” typically by undertaking badly needed reforms. 

USIP Peace Terms

Insurgent

Member of a political party who rebels against established leadership. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

A rebel or revolutionary. 

Oxford Dictionary

Integrated Mission 

A strategic partnership between a multi-dimensional United Nations peacekeeping operation and 

the UNCT based on a shared vision among all United Nations actors as to the strategic objectives 

of the United Nations presence at country-level. 

UN Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines

Integration is the guiding principle for the design and implementation of complex UN operations 

in post-conflict situations and for linking the different dimensions of peacebuilding (political, 

development, humanitarian, human rights, rule of law, social and security aspects) into a 

coherent support strategy. An integrated mission is based on a common strategic plan and a 

shared understanding of the priorities and types of program interventions that need to be 

undertaken at various stages of the recovery process. Through this integrated process, the UN 

system seeks to maximize its contribution towards countries emerging from conflict by engaging 

its different capabilities in a coherent and mutually supportive manner. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Integrated Warfare

The conduct of military operations in any combat environment wherein opposing forces employ 

non-conventional weapons in combination with conventional weapons. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

87
Integration 

The process through which the United Nations system seeks to maximize its contribution 

towards countries emerging from conflict by engaging its different capabilities in a coherent and 

mutually supportive manner. 

UN Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines

Intelligence 

1. The product resulting from the collection, processing, integration, analysis, evaluation, and 

interpretation of available information concerning foreign countries or areas. 

2. Information and knowledge about an adversary obtained through observation, investigation, 

analysis, or understanding. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Intelligence Interrogation

The systematic process of using approved interrogation approaches to question a captured or 

detained person to obtain reliable information to satisfy intelligence requirements, consistent 

with applicable law. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Intelligence Process 

The process by which information is converted into intelligence and made available to users. The 

process consists of six interrelated intelligence operations: planning and direction, collection, 

processing and exploitation, analysis and production, dissemination and integration, and 

evaluation and feedback. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Interagency

United States Government agencies and departments, including the Department of Defense. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Interagency Coordination

Within the context of Department of Defense involvement, the coordination that occurs between 

elements of Department of Defense and engaged U.S. Government agencies for the purpose of 

achieving an objective. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Interdiction 

An action to divert, disrupt, delay, or destroy the enemy’s military surface capability before it 

can be used effectively against friendly forces, or to otherwise achieve objectives. 2. In support 

88
of law enforcement, activities conducted to divert, disrupt, delay, intercept, board, detain, or 

destroy, as appropriate, vessels, vehicles, aircraft, people, and cargo. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Interest-Based Problem-Solving 

Interest-based problem solving defines problems in terms of interests (not positions) and works 

to reconcile the interests to obtain a mutually-satisfactory solution. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Interest Groups 

Interest groups are advocacy groups – groups of people who join together to work for a common 

cause. Environmental groups, groups defending human rights, and groups working for social 

causes are all interest groups. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Interest Section

The office responsible for protecting the interests of the United States, housed in a third country 

embassy, in a country with which the United States has no formal relations. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms 

Interests 

Interests are the underlying desires and concerns that motivate people to take a position. While 

their position is what they say they want, such as "I want to build my house here!", their interests 

are the reasons why they take that position (because I want a quiet lot with a good view of the 

city). Often parties' interests are compatible, and hence negotiable, even when their positions 

seem to be in complete opposition. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Intergovernmental Organization (IGO)

An organization created by a formal agreement (e.g., a treaty) between two or more 

governments. It may be established on a global, regional, or functional basis for wide-ranging or 

narrowly defined purposes. Formed to protect and promote national interests shared by member 

states. Examples include the United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the 

African Union. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Internal Audience 

US military members and civilian employees and their immediate families. One of the audiences 

comprising the concept of “publics.” 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

89
Internal Defense and Development (IDAD) 

The full range of measures taken by a nation to promote its growth and protect itself from 

subversion, lawlessness, and insurgency. It focuses on building viable institutions (political, 

economic, social, and military) that respond to the needs of society. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Internally Displaced Person (IDP) 

Persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or 

places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed 

conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made 

disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border. 

UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement 

International Disaster Relief Assistance 

Material, personnel and services provided by the international community to a Receiving State to 

meet the needs of those affected by a disaster. It includes all action necessary to grant and 

facilitate movement over the territory, including the territorial waters and the airspace of a 

Transit State. It is exclusively humanitarian and impartial in character. It is based on the respect 

of the principle of the sovereignty of States and is executed without discrimination of any kind 

based on race, color, sex, language or political or religious convictions. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

Interrogation

Systematic effort to procure information by direct questioning of a person under the control of 

the questioner. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Inter-sectoral 

The adjective inter-sectoral refers to the involvement of representatives from two sectors of 

society, such as government and business, or business and academics, or government and 

community organizations, etc. in a particular entity, initiative or activity. 

American Friends Service Committee Glossary 

Intervention 

Involvement by a third party or parties in the internal affairs of a country. It may be military or 

nonmilitary, requested or imposed. Traditionally, nonintervention was the norm in international 

relations, but recently the international community has become more willing to undertake 

humanitarian intervention to alleviate widespread human suffering where the state is unwilling or 

unable to address such conditions. Other examples of coercive actions might include punishing 

90
aggression by one state against another, enforcing violations of international agreements, and 

preventing an impending ecological catastrophe. 

USIP Peace Terms

Intolerance 

Intolerance is the unwillingness to accept the legitimacy of another person, group, or idea that 

differs from one's own. It may result in an effort to get rid of the "objectionable" person or idea, 

or it may simply result in treating them in a subservient way, as occurs when people of certain 

racial or ethnic groups are discriminated against by the dominant group in a society. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Intractable Conflict 

A conflict that goes on for a long time, resisting attempts to resolve it. Typically, intractable 

conflicts involve fundamental value disagreements, high-stakes distributional questions, 

domination issues, and denied human needs—usually the most difficult kinds of problems. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Intruder

An individual, unit, or weapon system, in or near an operational or exercise area, which presents 

the threat of intelligence gathering or disruptive activity. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Irregular Forces

Armed individuals or groups who are not members of the regular armed forces, police, or other 

internal security forces. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Irregular Warfare (IW)

A violent struggle among state and non-state actors for legitimacy and influence over the 

relevant population(s). Irregular warfare favors indirect and asymmetric approaches, though it 

may employ the full range of military and other capacities, in order to erode an adversary’s 

power, influence, and will. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

91
J 

Joint Civil-Military Operations Task Force 

A joint task force composed of civil-military operations units from more than one Service. It 

provides support to the joint force commander in humanitarian or nation assistance operations, 

theater campaigns, or civil-military operations concurrent with or subsequent to regional conflict. 

It can organize military interaction among many governmental and nongovernmental 

humanitarian agencies within the theater. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Joint Combined Exchange Training

A program conducted overseas to fulfill US forces training requirements and at the same time 

exchange the sharing of skills between US forces and host nation counterparts. Training 

activities are designed to improve US and host nation capabilities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Joint Doctrine 

Fundamental principles that guide the employment of US military forces in coordinated action 

toward a common objective. Joint doctrine contained in joint publications also includes terms, 

tactics, techniques, and procedures. It is authoritative but requires judgment in application. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Joint Fact-Finding 

Joint fact finding is a process in which two or more disputants work together to clarify disputed 

facts in a conflict – for example, they might cooperate on a scientific study of environmental 

impacts of a proposed project, or on an inquiry into the extent of human rights abuses during or 

after a war. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Joint Force Commander (JFC)

A general term applied to a combatant commander, sub-unified commander, or joint task force 

commander authorized to exercise combatant command (command authority) or operational 

control over a joint force. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Joint Interagency Coordination Group (JIACG)

An interagency staff group that establishes regular, timely, and collaborative working 

relationships between civilian and military operational planners. Composed of US Government 

civilian and military experts accredited to the combatant commander and tailored to meet the 

92
requirements of a supported combatant commander, the joint interagency coordination group 

provides the combatant commander with the capability to collaborate at the operational level 

with other US Government civilian agencies and departments. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Joint Logistics Operations Center 

A joint uniformed/civilian organization which provides functional interface for the Integrated 

Support Service (ISS) with the rest of the mission. The JLOC oversees and manages the routine 

receipt, analysis, and tasking of all requests from within the mission for logistics support, on 

behalf of the Chief ISS. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Joint Mission Analysis Center 

A joint uniformed/civilian entity that manages the collection, collation, analysis and 

dissemination of the mission's operational information analysis. The Chief of JMAC ensures that 

the JMAC serves as a decision support and planning support tool for the Head of Mission and 

Mission Leadership Team in safeguarding and implementation of the mission's mandate. The 

Head of Military Component and Head of Police Component should also utilize the JMAC to 

support planning for any discrete component operations. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Joint Mission-Essential Task 

A mission task selected by a joint force commander deemed essential to mission accomplishment 

and defined using the common language of the universal joint task list in terms of task, 

condition, and standard. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Joint Operations Area (JOA) 

An area of land, sea, and airspace, defined by a geographic combatant commander or subordinate 

unified commander, in which a joint force commander (normally a joint task force commander) 

conducts military operations to accomplish a specific mission. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Joint Operations Center 

A jointly manned facility of a joint force commander’s headquarters established for planning, 

monitoring, and guiding the execution of the commander’s decisions. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

A joint military, police and civilian entity which monitors situation reports and operational 

reports from all sources within a UN peacekeeping operation on behalf of the Head of Mission. 

The JOC collates reports received from all possible sources and ensures these are disseminated in 

93
accordance with the guidance of the Head of Mission. During crises, the JOC acts as the mission 

crisis management centre and provides support to the Mission's Crisis Management Team. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Joint Publication 

A publication containing joint doctrine that is prepared under the direction and authority of the 

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and applies to all Armed Forces of the United States. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Joint Special Operations Area (JSOA) 

An area of land, sea, and airspace assigned by a joint force commander to the commander of a 

joint special operations force to conduct special operations activities. It may be limited in size to 

accommodate a discrete direct action mission or may be extensive enough to allow a continuing 

broad range of unconventional warfare operations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Joint Staff 

1. The staff of a commander of a unified or specified command, subordinate unified command, 

joint task force, or subordinate functional component (when a functional component command 

will employ forces from more than one Military Department), that includes members from the 

several Services comprising the force. These members should be assigned in such a manner as to 

ensure that the commander understands the tactics, techniques, capabilities, needs, and 

limitations of the component parts of the force. Positions on the staff should be divided so that 

Service representation and influence generally reflect the Service composition of the force. 

2. The staff under the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as provided for in the National 

Security Act of 1947, as amended by the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense 

Reorganization Act of 1986. The Joint Staff assists the Chairman and, subject to the authority, 

direction, and control of the Chairman and the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 

carrying out their responsibilities. 

DoD Joint Pub 3-08 

Joint Task Force

A joint force that is constituted and so designated by the Secretary of Defense, a combatant 

commander, a sub-unified commander, or an existing joint task force commander. 

DoD Joint Pub 3-08 

Jus Ad Bellem 

A moral code justifications that must be satisfied for a war to be considered a just war. The 

elements of this have traditionally included having just cause; being declared by a proper 

94
authority; possessing right intention; having a reasonable chance of success; and ends being 

proportional to the means used. From the Latin “justice to go to war.” 

Nye, Joseph S. 

Jus In Bello 

A moral code of conduct that holds states and individuals responsible for their actions during 

wartime. From the Latin “justice in war.” 

Nye, Joseph S.

Just War Theory

The belief that the use of military force is acceptable only if it meets certain standards: right 

authority, just cause, right intention, last resort, proportional means, and reasonable prospects of 

success. The actual conduct of the war must meet the standards of proportional means and 

discrimination (immunity for noncombatants). 

USIP Peace Terms 

An intellectual tradition with origins in the Christian church that employs moral guidelines and 

justifications to sanction the appropriate use of force by states. Just war tradition prohibits killing 

innocent civilians. 

Nye, Joseph S. 

95
L 

Last Resort 

Use of military assets, armed escorts, joint humanitarian-military operations and any other 

actions involving visible interactions with the military must be the option of last resort. Such 

actions may take place only where there is no comparable civilian alternative and only the use of 

military support can meet a critical humanitarian need. 

UN-CMCoord UN Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Laundering

In counterdrug operations, the process of transforming drug money into a more manageable form 

while concealing its illicit origin. Foreign bank accounts and dummy corporations are used as 

shelters. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Law of War

That part of international law that regulates the conduct of armed hostilities. Also called the law 

of armed conflict. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Lead Agency

Designated among US Government agencies to coordinate the interagency oversight of the dayto-day conduct of an ongoing operation. The lead agency is to chair the interagency working 

group established to coordinate policy related to a particular operation. The lead agency 

determines the agenda, ensures cohesion among the agencies and is responsible for 

implementing decisions. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Lead Nation

One nation assumes the responsibility for procuring and providing a broad spectrum of logistic 

support for all or a part of the multinational force and/or headquarters. Compensation and/or 

reimbursement will then be subject to agreements between the parties involved. The lead nation 

may also assume the responsibility to coordinate logistics of the other nations within its 

functional and regional area of responsibility. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

96
Legation 

A diplomatic mission in a foreign country headed by a minister. The United States has none at 

the present time, but a few other countries do. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms

Legitimacy 

The degree to which the population accepts and supports the mission, its mandate and its 

behavior over time; the degree to which the local population accepts and supports the host nation 

government (which can include informal government structures as well); the manner in which 

the government attains power; and the extent to which regional neighbors and the international 

community accept the mission mandate and its actions and the host nation government. 

USIP Guiding Principles 

In terms of an intervention, legitimacy refers to the degree to which: (a) the operation is 

authorized by an appropriate international or regional body, and (b) the operation’s mandate and 

conduct are accepted or at least tolerated by the affected population and the host country 

government. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Legitimacy refers to the perceived fairness of a dispute resolution process. For example, fair 

elections or litigation based on socially-accepted laws are generally considered legitimate, as are 

the decisions that result from such processes. On the other hand, elections where voters are 

harassed or forced to vote a particular way are usually considered illegitimate, as are court 

decisions handed down by biased courts. Legitimacy of decision making procedures is important, 

because illegitimate procedures almost always escalate conflicts, making their ultimate 

resolution more difficult.

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Letter of Assist

A contractual document issued by the United Nations (UN) to a government authorizing it to 

provide goods or services to a peacekeeping operation; the UN agrees either to purchase the 

goods or services or authorizes the government to supply them subject to reimbursement by the 

UN. A letter of assist typically details specifically what is to be provided by the contributing 

government and establishes a funding limit that cannot be exceeded. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Liaison

That contact or intercommunication maintained between elements of military forces or other 

agencies to ensure mutual understanding and unity of purpose and action. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

97
Liaison Office 

The office responsible for protecting the interests of the United States prior to the establishment 

of diplomatic relations (or while diplomatic relations are suspended) between the United States 

and the host country. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms

Liberated Territory

Any area, domestic, neutral, or friendly, which, having been occupied by an enemy, is retaken by 

friendly forces. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Limited War

Armed conflict short of general war, exclusive of incidents, involving the overt engagement of 

the military forces of two or more nations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Limiting Factor

A factor or condition that, either temporarily or permanently, impedes mission accomplishment. 

Illustrative examples are transportation network deficiencies, lack of in-place facilities, malpositioned forces or materiel, extreme climatic conditions, distance, transit or over-flight rights, 

political conditions, etc. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Line of Demarcation 

A line defining the boundary of a buffer zone or area of limitation. A line of demarcation may 

also be used to define the forward limits of disputing or belligerent forces after each phase of 

disengagement or withdrawal has been completed. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Lines of Operation (LOO) 

1. A logical line that connects actions on nodes and/or decisive points related in time and 

purpose with an objective(s). 

2. A physical line that defines the interior or exterior orientation of the force in relation to the 

enemy or that connects actions on nodes and/or decisive points related in time and space to an 

objective(s). 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

98
Logistic Support 

Logistic support encompasses the logistic services, materiel, and transportation required to 

support the continental United States-based and worldwide deployed forces. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Low Visibility Operations

Sensitive operations wherein the political-military restrictions inherent in covert and clandestine 

operations are either not necessary or not feasible; actions are taken as required to limit exposure 

of those involved and/or their activities. Execution of these operations is undertaken with the 

knowledge that the action and/or sponsorship of the operation may preclude plausible denial by 

the initiating power. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

99
M 

Main Attack

The principal attack or effort into which the commander throws the full weight of the offensive 

power at his disposal. An attack directed against the chief objective of the campaign, major 

operation, or battle. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Major Operation

A series of tactical actions (battles, engagements, strikes) conducted by combat forces of a single 

or several Services, coordinated in time and place, to achieve strategic or operational objectives 

in an operational area. These actions are conducted simultaneously or sequentially in accordance 

with a common plan and are controlled by a single commander. For noncombat operations, a 

reference to the relative size and scope of a military operation. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Make Safe 

One or more actions necessary to prevent or interrupt complete function of the system 

(traditionally synonymous with “dearm,” “disarm,” and “disable”). Among the necessary actions 

are: (1) install (safety devices such as pins or locks); (2) disconnect (hoses, linkages, batteries); 

(3) bleed (accumulators, reservoirs); (4) remove (explosive devices such as initiators, fuzes, 

detonators); and (5) intervene (as in welding, lockwiring). 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Mass Casualty 

Any large number of casualties produced in a relatively short period of time, usually as the result 

of a single incident such as a military aircraft accident, hurricane, flood, earthquake, or armed 

attack that exceeds local logistic support capabilities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Marginalized Groups 

Marginalized groups suffer from a social, economic, or political process that renders an 

individual or an ethnic or national group powerless or to a lower social standing. 

USIP Guiding Principles

Mediation 

A mode of negotiation in which a mutually acceptable third party helps the parties to a conflict 

find a solution that they cannot find by themselves. It is a three-sided political process in which 

the mediator builds and then draws upon relationships with the other two parties to help them 

100
reach a settlement. Unlike judges or arbitrators, mediators have no authority to decide the dispute 

between the parties, although powerful mediators may bring to the table considerable capability 

to influence the outcome. Mediators are typically from outside the conflict. Sometimes mediators 

are impartial and neutral, in other cases they have a strategic interest that motivates them to 

promote a negotiated outcome. Mediators may focus on facilitating communication and 

negotiation but they also may offer solutions and use leverage, including positive and negative 

incentives, to persuade the parties to achieve an agreement. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Mediation is a method of conflict resolution that is carried out by an intermediary who works 

with the disputing parties to help them improve their communication and their analysis of the 

conflict situation, so that the parties can themselves identify and choose an option for resolving 

the conflict that meets the interests or needs of all of the disputants. Unlike arbitration, where the 

intermediary listens to the arguments of both sides and makes a decision for the disputants, a 

mediator will help the disputants design a solution themselves. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Meeting Engagement 

A combat action that occurs when a moving force, incompletely deployed for battle, engages an 

enemy at an unexpected time and place. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Mental Models 

The term ‘mental models’ comes from the field of organizational development. It is used to refer 

to the underlying assumptions that shape the way people experience and interpret the world 

around them. 

American Friends Service Committee Glossary 

Metrics 

Measurable indicators of progress, typically to assist in implementing an agreement. The most 

useful metrics gauge impact or outcomes, such as fewer weapons-related deaths, reduced child 

mortality, increased literacy, and reduced gender disparity in education, rather than input. 

USIP Peace Terms

Migrant 

A person who (1) belongs to a normally migratory culture who may cross national boundaries, or 

(2) has fled his or her native country for economic reasons rather than fear of political or ethnic 

persecution. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

101
Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) 

A joint Service group, normally under the military command of a commander of a unified 

command and representing the Secretary of Defense, which primarily administers the US 

military assistance planning and programming in the host country. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Military Capability 

The ability to achieve a specified wartime objective (win a war or battle, destroy a target set). It 

includes four major components: force structure, modernization, readiness, and sustainability. A. 

Force structure — Numbers, size, and composition of the units that comprise US defense forces; 

e.g., divisions, ships, air wings. B. Modernization — Technical sophistication of forces, units, 

weapon systems, and equipments. C. Unit readiness — The ability to provide capabilities 

required by the combatant commanders to execute their assigned missions. This is derived from 

the ability of each unit to deliver the outputs for which it was designed. D. Sustainability — The 

ability to maintain the necessary level and duration of operational activity to achieve military 

objectives. Sustainability is a function of providing for and maintaining those levels of ready 

forces, materiel, and consumables necessary to support military effort. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Military Civic Action

The use of preponderantly indigenous military forces on projects useful to the local population at 

all levels in such fields as education, training, public works, agriculture, transportation, 

communications, health, sanitation, and others contributing to economic and social development, 

which would also serve to improve the standing of the military forces with the population. US 

forces may at times advise or engage in military civic actions in overseas areas. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Military Deception

Actions executed to deliberately mislead adversary military decision makers as to friendly 

military capabilities, intentions, and operations, thereby causing the adversary to take specific 

actions (or inactions) that will contribute to the accomplishment of the friendly mission. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Military Governor

The military commander or other designated person who, in an occupied territory, exercises 

supreme authority over the civil population subject to the laws and usages of war and to any 

directive received from the commander’s government or superior. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

102
Military Intervention

The deliberate act of a nation or a group of nations to introduce its military forces into the course 

of an existing controversy. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Military Necessity

The principle whereby a belligerent has the right to apply any measures which are required to 

bring about the successful conclusion of a military operation and which are not forbidden by the 

laws of war. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Military Occupation

A condition in which territory is under the effective control of a foreign armed force. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Military Options 

A range of military force responses that can be projected to accomplish assigned tasks. Options 

include one or a combination of the following: civic action, humanitarian assistance, civil affairs, 

and other military activities to develop positive relationships with other countries; confidence 

building and other measures to reduce military tensions; military presence; activities to convey 

threats to adversaries as well as truth projections; military deceptions and psychological 

operations; quarantines, blockades, and harassment operations; raids; intervention operations; 

armed conflict involving air, land, maritime, and strategic warfare operations; support for law 

enforcement authorities to counter international criminal activities (terrorism, narcotics 

trafficking, slavery, and piracy); support for law enforcement authorities to suppress domestic 

rebellion; and support for insurgency, counterinsurgency, and civil war in foreign countries. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Military Posture

The military disposition, strength, and condition of readiness as it affects capabilities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Military Requirement

An established need justifying the timely allocation of resources to achieve a capability to 

accomplish approved military objectives, missions, or tasks. Also called operational requirement 

and objective force level. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

103
Minimize

A communications term used to describe a post using minimum communications to avoid 

overload during a crisis; e.g., "Embassy Beirut is on minimize." This reduces routine 

communications and means outgoing communications require very senior-level authorization. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms 

Minimum Force

Those minimum actions, including the use of armed force, sufficient to bring a situation under 

control or to defend against hostile act or hostile intent. All actions must cease as soon as the 

target complies with instructions or ceases hostile action. The firing of weapons is to be 

considered as a means of last resort. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Missing in Action (MIA)

A casualty status for which the United States Code provides statutory guidance concerning 

missing members of the Military Services. Excluded are personnel who are in an absent without 

leave, deserter, or dropped-from-rolls status. A person declared missing is categorized as 

follows. A. Beleaguered — The casualty is a member of an organized element that has been 

surrounded by a hostile force to prevent escape of its members. B. Besieged — The casualty is a 

member of an organized element that has been surrounded by a hostile force, compelling it to 

surrender. C. Captured — The casualty has been seized as the result of action of an unfriendly 

military or paramilitary force in a foreign country. D. Detained — The casualty is prevented 

from proceeding or is restrained in custody for alleged violation of international law or other 

reason claimed by the government or group under which the person is being held. e. interned — 

The casualty is definitely known to have been taken into custody of a nonbelligerent foreign 

power as the result of and for reasons arising out of any armed conflict in which the Armed 

Forces of the United States are engaged. F. Missing — The casualty is not present at his or her 

duty location due to apparent involuntary reasons and whose location is unknown. G. Missing in 

action — The casualty is a hostile casualty, other than the victim of a terrorist activity, who is not 

present at his or her duty location due to apparent involuntary reasons and whose location is 

unknown. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Mission 

1. The task, together with the purpose, that clearly indicates the action to be taken and the reason 

therefore. 

2. In common usage, especially when applied to lower military units, a duty assigned to an 

individual or unit; a task. 

3. The dispatching of one or more aircraft to accomplish one particular task. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

104
A generic term that can be used interchangeably with "embassy" or "post." The entirety of 

official U.S. representation in a given foreign country that functions under the supervision of the 

Ambassador, including civilian and military personnel (except U.S. military reporting to a 

unified command and official U.S. representation to a multilateral organization). However, 

USAID uses the word to mean specifically the USAID component of a diplomatic mission. Also 

used as the term for posts accredited to multilateral organizations; e.g., the U.S. Mission to the 

United Nations, the U.S. Mission to NATO. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms

Mission Statement 

A short sentence or paragraph that describes the organization’s essential task (or tasks) and 

purpose – a clear statement of the action to be taken and the reason for doing so. The mission 

statement contains the elements of who, what, when, where, and why, but seldom specifies how. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Mitigation 

Activities undertaken in advance to limit the adverse impact of disasters.

USAID Field Operations Guide

Mobility 

A quality or capability of military forces which permits them to move from place to place while 

retaining the ability to fulfill their primary mission. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Mock-Up 

A model, built to scale, of a machine, apparatus, or weapon, used in studying the construction of, 

and in testing a new development, or in teaching personnel how to operate the actual machine, 

apparatus, or weapon. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Multi-Agent Munition

A munition that, when activated, disperses two or more chemical and/or biological agents. 

NATO AAP-6

Multinational 

Between two or more forces or agencies of two or more nations or coalition partners. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

105
Multinational Force (MNF)

A force composed of military elements of nations who have formed an alliance or coalition for 

some specific purpose. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Multinational Operations 

A collective term to describe military actions conducted by forces of two or more nations, 

usually undertaken within the structure of a coalition or alliance. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Multinational Warfare

Warfare conducted by forces of two or more nations, usually undertaken within the structure of a 

coalition or alliance. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Multi-Sectoral 

The adjective multi-sectoral refers to the involvement of representatives from more than two 

sectors of society, such as government, business, academics, community organizations, etc. in a 

particular entity, initiative or activity. 

American Friends Service Committee Glossary 

Multi-Stakeholder 

The adjective multi-stakeholder refers to the involvement of representatives from groups that 

have a stake in the outcome of a particular process. Multi-stakeholder processes are often multisectoral. 

American Friends Service Committee Glossary 

Multi-Track Diplomacy 

A synergy of peace-making efforts by several categories of actors based on their comparative 

advantage and expertise: governments, professional organizations, the business community, 

churches, the media, private citizens, training and educational institutes, activists; and funding 

organizations. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

This term has been developed recently to reflect the idea that international exchanges can take 

many forms beyond official negotiations between diplomats. Examples of multi-track diplomacy 

include official and unofficial conflict resolution efforts, citizen and scientific exchanges, 

international business negotiations, international cultural and athletic activities and other 

international contacts and cooperative efforts. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

106
Munition 

A complete device charged with explosives, propellants, pyrotechnics, initiating composition, or 

nuclear, biological, or chemical material for use in military operations, including demolitions. 

Certain suitably modified munitions can be used for training, ceremonial, or nonoperational 

purposes. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Mutually Hurting Stalemate 

A situation in which neither party thinks it can win a given conflict without incurring excessive 

loss, and in which both are suffering from a continuation of fighting. The conflict is judged to 

have entered a period of ripeness, a propitious moment for third party mediation. 

USIP Peace Terms 

107
N 

Named Area of Interest (NAI)

The geographical area where information that will satisfy a specific information requirement can 

be collected. Named areas of interest are usually selected to capture indications of adversary 

courses of action, but also may be related to conditions of the battlespace. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

National Defense Strategy

A document approved by the Secretary of Defense for applying the Armed Forces of the United 

States in coordination with Department of Defense agencies and other instruments of national 

power to achieve national security strategy objectives. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

National Emergency

A condition declared by the President or the Congress by virtue of powers previously vested in 

them that authorize certain emergency actions to be undertaken in the national interest. Action to 

be taken may include partial, full, or total mobilization of national resources. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

National Intelligence 

The terms “national intelligence” and “intelligence related to the national security” each refer to 

all intelligence, regardless of the source from which derived and including information gathered 

within or outside of the United States, which pertains, as determined consistent with any 

guidelines issued by the President, to the interests of more than one department or agency of the 

Government; and that involves (a) threats to the United States, its people, property, or interests; 

(b) the development, proliferation, or use of weapons of mass destruction; or (c) any other matter 

bearing on United States national or homeland security. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) 

A strategic estimate of the capabilities, vulnerabilities, and probable courses of action of foreign 

nations produced at the national level as a composite of the views of the intelligence community. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

108
National Security 

A collective term encompassing both national defense and foreign relations of the United States. 

Specifically, the condition provided by: A. a military or defense advantage over any foreign 

nation or group of nations; B. a favorable foreign relations position; or C. a defense posture 

capable of successfully resisting hostile or destructive action from within or without, overt or 

covert. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

National Security Interests 

The foundation for the development of valid national objectives that define US goals or 

purposes. National security interests include preserving US political identity, framework, and 

institutions; fostering economic well-being; and bolstering international order supporting the 

vital interests of the United States and its allies. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Nation Assistance

Civil and/or military assistance rendered to a nation by foreign forces within that nation’s 

territory during peacetime, crises or emergencies, or war, based on agreements mutually 

concluded between nations. Nation assistance programs may include, but are not limited to, 

security assistance, foreign internal defense, other United States Code title 10 programs, and 

activities performed on a reimbursable basis by Federal agencies or intergovernmental 

organizations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Needs 

Psychologist Abraham Maslow suggested that all people are driven to attain certain biological 

and psychological requirements, which he called fundamental human "needs." Several conflict 

theorists, for instance John Burton and Herbert Kelman, have applied this idea to conflict theory, 

suggesting that the needs for security, identity, and recognition underlie most deep-rooted and 

protracted conflicts. Most ethnic and racial conflicts, they argue, for instance, are not interestbased conflicts (and hence cannot be negotiated), but are driven by the subordinate group's need 

for these fundamental needs. Only by restructuring the society so that all groups' fundamental 

needs are met can needs conflicts be resolved. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Negotiation 

The process of communication and bargaining between parties seeking to arrive at a mutually 

acceptable outcome on issues of shared concern. The process typically involves compromise and 

concessions and is designed to result in an agreement, although sometimes a party participates in 

negotiations for other reasons (to score propaganda points or to appease domestic political 

forces, for example). Prenegotiation refers to preliminary talks to agree on such issues as the 

109
format, procedures, time frame, who will participate, and sometimes the scope of the formal 

talks. Endgame refers to the final stages of a negotiation, when substantive progress has been 

made but important details remain to be ironed out and the agreement hammered into final form. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Discussion aimed at reaching an agreement. 

Oxford Dictionary 

Negotiation Loopbacks 

This term refers to the return to negotiation after rights-based and power-based processes are 

used to clarify respective rights and relative levels of power. These tests of rights and power 

determine the parties’ best alternatives to a negotiated agreement (their "BATNA"s). Once these 

are known, the parties can "loopback" to negotiation to avoid a protracted and costly struggle, 

while usually obtaining the same result. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Neutral 

In combat and combat support operations, an identity applied to a track whose characteristics, 

behavior, origin, or nationality indicate that it is neither supporting nor opposing friendly forces. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Neutrality

In international law, the attitude of impartiality during periods of war adopted by third states 

toward a belligerent and subsequently recognized by the belligerent, which creates rights and 

duties between the impartial states and the belligerent. In a United Nations enforcement action, 

the rules of neutrality apply to impartial members of the United Nations except so far as they are 

excluded by the obligation of such members under the United Nations Charter. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Humanitarian assistance must be provided without engaging in hostilities or taking sides in 

controversies of a political, religious or ideological nature. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

This term means that a third party is not connected to or had a prior relationship with any of the 

disputants. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Neutralize

1. As pertains to military operations, to render ineffective or unusable. 

2. To render enemy personnel or material incapable of interfering with a particular operation. 

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3. To render safe mines, bombs, missiles, and booby traps. 

4. To make harmless anything contaminated with a chemical agent. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Nonalignment

The political attitude of a state that does not associate or identify itself with the political ideology 

or objective espoused by other states, groups of states, or international causes, or with the foreign 

policies stemming therefrom. It does not preclude involvement, but expresses the attitude of no 

precommitment to a particular state (or block) or policy before a situation arises. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Noncombatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) 

Operation directed by the Department of State or other appropriate authority, in conjunction with 

the Department of Defense, whereby noncombatants are evacuated from foreign countries when 

their lives are endangered by war, civil unrest, or natural disaster to safe havens or to the United 

States. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

An operation conducted to relocate designated non-combatants threatened in a foreign country to 

a place of safety. 

NATO AAP-6 

Noncombatant Evacuees

1. US citizens who may be ordered to evacuate by competent authority include: a. civilian 

employees of all agencies of the US Government and their dependents, except as noted in 2a 

below; b. military personnel of the Armed Forces of the United States specifically designated for 

evacuation as noncombatants; and c. dependents of members of the Armed Forces of the United 

States. 

2. US (and non-US) citizens who may be authorized or assisted (but not necessarily ordered to 

evacuate) by competent authority include: a. civilian employees of US Government agencies and 

their dependents, who are residents in the country concerned on their own volition, but express 

the willingness to be evacuated; b. private US citizens and their dependents; c. military personnel 

and dependents of members of the Armed Forces of the United States outlined in 1c above, short 

of an ordered evacuation; and d. designated personnel, including dependents of persons listed in 

1a through 1c above, as prescribed by the Department of State. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Non-Discrimination 

The principle that a measure of general protection for civilian populations against certain 

consequences of war without any adverse distinction based, in particular on race, nationality, 

religion or political opinion (e.g. the establishment of hospitals and safety zones and of 

neutralized zones, the protection of civilian hospitals and their staff, the free passage of relief 

111
supplies, etc.). Also the principle under human rights law that States must undertake measures to 

respect and to ensure to all individuals within their territories and subject to their jurisdiction the 

rights recognized in the 1966 International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights, and 

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, 

language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other 

status. This principle applies equally in times of peace as in times of war. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) 

A private, self-governing, not-for-profit organization dedicated to alleviating human suffering; 

and/or promoting education, health care, economic development, environmental protection, 

human rights, and conflict resolution; and/or encouraging the establishment of democratic 

institutions and civil society. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Any nonprofit or profit making organization receiving or providing USAID-funded assistance. 

General usage of this term in the wider humanitarian community, however, is based on an 

informal definition that excludes profit making organizations and is not limited to organizations 

associated with USAID. 

USAID Field Operations Guide 

A private, self-governing, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing an objective or 

objectives such as alleviating human suffering; promoting education, health care, economic 

development, environmental protection, human rights, and conflict resolution; and encouraging 

the establishment of democratic institutions and civil society. Some people use the term 

international nongovernmental organization (INGO) to differentiate those organizations that 

transcend national boundaries from local NGOs. Also known as private voluntary organizations, 

civic associations, nonprofits, and charitable organizations. 

USIP Peace Terms 

An organized entity that is functionally independent of, and does not represent, a government or 

State. It is normally applied to organizations devoted to humanitarian and human rights causes, a 

number of which have official consultative status at the United Nations. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Nonhostile Casualty 

A person who becomes a casualty due to circumstances not directly attributable to hostile action 

or terrorist activity. Casualties due to the elements, self-inflicted wounds, and combat fatigue are 

nonhostile casualties. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

112
Non-State Actor 

A large category that includes nongovernmental organizations, multinational corporations, 

media, terrorist groups, warlords, insurgents, criminal organizations, religious groups, trade 

unions, universities, and diaspora communities. Most types of non-state actors would be 

considered part of civil society. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Actors not directly connected to the state in which they operate and include: non-government 

organizations, rebel groups, armed groups, and private corporations. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Nonviolent Direct Action/Nonviolent Struggle

Nonviolent direct action is action, usually undertaken by a group of people, to persuade someone 

else to change their behavior. Examples include strikes, boycotts, marches, and demonstrations – 

social, economic, or political acts that are intended to persuade an opponent to change its 

policies. While not violent initially, nonviolent direct action can provoke a violent response. 

Thus, forcing someone to do something at gunpoint would not be nonviolent direct action, but if 

demonstrators are forced to retreat by police using or threatening to use weapons, the initial 

action is still considered to be nonviolent. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Normal Operations

Generally and collectively, the broad functions that a combatant commander undertakes when 

assigned responsibility for a given geographic or functional area. Except as otherwise qualified 

in certain unified command plan paragraphs that relate to particular commands, “normal 

operations” of a combatant commander include: planning and execution of operations throughout 

the range of military operations; planning and conduct of cold war activities; planning and 

administration of military assistance; and maintaining the relationships and exercising the 

directive or coordinating authority prescribed in DoD Joint Pub 1-02 and Department of Defense 

Joint Pub 4-01. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

113
O 

Objective

1. The clearly defined, decisive, and attainable goal toward which every operation is directed. 

2. The specific target of the action taken (for example, a definite terrain feature, the seizure or 

holding of which is essential to the commander’s plan, or, an enemy force or capability without 

regard to terrain features). 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Occupied Territory 

Territory under the authority and effective control of a belligerent armed force. The term is not 

applicable to territory being administered pursuant to peace terms, treaty, or other agreement, 

express or implied, with the civil authority of the territory. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Operation 

1. A military action or the carrying out of a strategic, operational, tactical, service, training, or 

administrative military mission. 

2. The process of carrying on combat, including movement, supply, attack, defense, and 

maneuvers needed to gain the objectives of any battle or campaign. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Operational Area (OA) 

An overarching term encompassing more descriptive terms for geographic areas in which 

military operations are conducted. Operational areas include, but are not limited to, such 

descriptors as area of responsibility, theater of war, theater of operations, joint operations area, 

amphibious objective area, joint special operations area, and area of operations.

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Operational Intelligence

Intelligence that is required for planning and conducting campaigns and major operations to 

accomplish strategic objectives within theaters or operational areas. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Operational Level

The level at which campaigns and major operations are planned, conducted, and sustained to 

accomplish strategic objectives within theatres or areas of operations. 

NATO AAP-6

114
Operational Level of War

The level of war at which campaigns and major operations are planned, conducted, and sustained 

to achieve strategic objectives within theaters or other operational areas. Activities at this level 

link tactics and strategy by establishing operational objectives needed to achieve the strategic 

objectives, sequencing events to achieve the operational objectives, initiating actions, and 

applying resources to bring about and sustain these events. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Operational Limitation

An action required or prohibited by higher authority, such as a constraint or a restraint, and other 

restrictions that limit the commander’s freedom of action, such as diplomatic agreements, rules 

of engagement, political and economic conditions in affected countries, and host nation issues. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Operations Plan (OPLAN) 

1. Any plan for the conduct of military operations prepared in response to actual and potential 

contingencies. In the context of joint operation planning level. 

2. Planning detail, a complete and detailed joint plan containing a full description of the concept 

of operations, all annexes applicable to the plan, and a time-phased force and deployment data. It 

identifies the specific forces, functional support, and resources required to execute the plan and 

provide closure estimates for their flow into the theater. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Operations Security 

A process of identifying critical information and subsequently analyzing friendly actions 

attendant to military operations and other activities to: a. identify those actions that can be 

observed by adversary intelligence systems; b. determine indicators that adversary intelligence 

systems might obtain that could be interpreted or pieced together to derive critical information in 

time to be useful to adversaries; and c. select and execute measures that eliminate or reduce to an 

acceptable level the vulnerabilities of friendly actions to adversary exploitation. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Order of Battle 

The identification, strength, command structure, and disposition of the personnel, units, and 

equipment of any military force. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

115
Other Government Agency (OGA) 

Within the context of interagency coordination, a non Department of Defense agency of the 

United States Government. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Outputs and outcomes 

In performance assessment, outputs are the products or services delivered (often called 

deliverables); outcomes are the impacts on social, economic, or other indicators arising from the 

delivery of outputs. 

USIP Peace Terms

Overt Operation 

An operation conducted openly, without concealment. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

116
P 

Parlimentaire 

An agent employed by a commander of belligerent forces in the field to go in person within the 

enemy lines for the purpose of communicating or negotiating openly and directly with the enemy 

commander. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Participation 

The humanitarian aid community has a responsibility to give aid in a way that realizes the right 

of affected populations to participate in decisions that affect their lives, and which builds on 

capacities in the affected population. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Participatory Action Research

Participatory action research is a term that brings together a set of assumptions underlying ‘new 

paradigm’ science and in contrast to those of traditional or ‘old paradigm’ science. These new 

assumptions underline the importance of social and collective processes in reaching conclusions 

about “what is the case,” and what the implications are for change which is deemed useful by 

those whose problematic situation led to the research in the first place. 

American Friends Service Committee Glossary 

Partner Nation 

Those nations that the United States works with to disrupt the production, transportation, 

distribution, and sale of illicit drugs, as well as the money involved with this illicit activity. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Passive Defense 

Measures taken to reduce the probability of and to minimize the effects of damage caused by 

hostile action without the intention of taking the initiative. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Peace 

A condition that exists in the relations between groups, classes or states when there is an absence 

of violence (direct or indirect) or the threat of violence. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Freedom from or the cessation of war or violence. 

Oxford Dictionary 

117
Peace Agreement 

A formal treaty intended to end or significantly transform violent conflict. 

UN Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines 

Peacebuilding 

Stability actions, predominately diplomatic and economic, that strengthen and rebuild 

governmental infrastructure and institutions in order to avoid a relapse into conflict. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

A peace support operation employing complementary diplomatic, civil and – when necessary – 

military means, to address the underlying causes of conflict and the longer-term needs of the 

people. It requires a commitment to a long-term process and may run concurrently with other 

types of peace support operations. 

NATO AAP-6

Originally conceived in the context of post-conflict recovery efforts to promote reconciliation 

and reconstruction, the term peacebuilding has more recently taken on a broader meaning. It may 

include providing humanitarian relief, protecting human rights, ensuring security, establishing 

nonviolent modes of resolving conflicts, fostering reconciliation, providing trauma healing 

services, repatriating refugees and resettling internally displaced persons, supporting broad-based 

education, and aiding in economic reconstruction. As such, it also includes conflict prevention in 

the sense of preventing the recurrence of violence, as well as conflict management and postconflict recovery. In a larger sense, peacebuilding involves a transformation toward more 

manageable, peaceful relationships and governance structures—the long-term process of 

addressing root causes and effects, reconciling differences, normalizing relations, and building 

institutions that can manage conflict without resorting to violence. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Measures aimed at reducing the risk of lapsing or relapsing into conflict, by strengthening 

national capacities for conflict management, and laying the foundations for sustainable peace. 

Peacebuilding involves a range of measures targeted to reduce the risk of lapsing or relapsing 

into conflict by strengthening national capacities at all levels for conflict management, and to lay 

the foundation for sustainable peace and development. Peacebuilding is a complex, long-term 

process of creating the necessary conditions for sustainable peace. It works by addressing the 

deep-rooted, structural causes of violent conflict in a comprehensive manner. Peacebuilding 

measures address core issues that effect the functioning of society and the State, and seek to 

enhance the capacity of the State to effectively and legitimately carry out its core functions. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

The employment of measures which consolidate peaceful relations and societal institutions in 

order to contribute to the creation of an environment which deters the emergence or the 

escalation of tensions which may lead to violent conflicts. 

International Alert Code of Conduct: Conflict Transformation Work 

118
Peace Constituencies 

The coming together of people from different sectors of civil society whose prevailing interest is 

the development and realization of sustainable peace. 

International Alert Code of Conduct: Conflict Transformation Work 

Peace Enforcement

Application of military force, or the threat of its use, normally pursuant to international 

authorization, to compel compliance with resolutions or sanctions designed to maintain or restore 

peace and order. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

A peace support operation conducted to maintain a ceasefire or peace agreement where the level 

of consent and compliance is uncertain and the threat of disruption is high. The peace support 

force must be capable of applying credible coercive force and must apply the provision of the 

ceasefire or peace agreement impartially. 

NATO AAP-6

Coercive action undertaken with the authorization of the United Nations Security Council to end 

armed hostilities, restore a cease-fire, or enforce a peace agreement. It includes diplomatic and 

military measures, the latter usually being carried out by a third-party or multinational force. 

Enforcement operations do not require the consent of the affected parties. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Coercive action undertaken with the authorization of the United Nations Security Council to 

maintain or restore international peace and security in situations where the Security Council has 

determined the existence of a threat to the peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression. 

UN Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines 

Peacekeeping 

1. Military operations undertaken with the consent of all major parties to dispute, designed to 

monitor and facilitate implementation of an agreement (cease fire, truce, or other such 

agreement) and support diplomatic efforts to reach a long-term political settlement. 

2. The process of diplomacy, mediation, negotiation, or other forms of peaceful settlements that 

arranges an end to a dispute and resolves issues that led to it. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

 

A peace support operation following an agreement or ceasefire that has established a permissive 

environment where the level of consent and compliance is high, and the threat of disruption is 

low. The use of force by a peace support force is normally limited to self-defence. 

NATO AAP-6 

Traditionally, action undertaken to preserve peace where fighting has been halted and to assist in 

implementing agreements achieved by the peacemakers. Typically authorized by the UN 

119
Security Council under Chapter 6 or 7 of the UN Charter, these operations usually include lightly 

armed military personnel and have the consent of the parties. The scope of peacekeeping 

activities has gradually broadened since the end of the Cold War to include civilian and 

humanitarian activities such as food distribution, electoral assistance, refugee return and 

reintegration, civilian protection and prevention of gender-based violence, restoration of 

transportation and other basic services, and establishing safe havens. In recent years, 

peacekeepers have been placed in areas where fighting is continuing, and their role is more to 

position themselves between hostile parties, a situation in which there is often a mismatch 

between their mandate and their capability. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Action undertaken to preserve peace, however fragile, where fighting has been halted and to 

assist in implementing agreements achieved by the peacemakers. 

UN Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines 

Peace Making (Peacemaking) 

A peace support operation, conducted after the initiation of a conflict to secure a ceasefire or 

peaceful settlement, that involves primarily diplomatic action supported, when necessary, by 

direct or indirect use of military assets. 

NATO AAP-6 

Activities to halt ongoing conflicts and bring hostile parties to agreement, essentially through 

such peaceful means as those foreseen in Chapter 6 of the Charter of the United Nations: 

“negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional 

agencies or agreements, or other peaceful means.” Peacemaking typically involves the process of 

negotiating an agreement between contending parties, often with the help of a third-party 

mediator. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Action to bring hostile parties to agreement. Peacemaking generally includes measures to 

address conflicts in progress and usually involves diplomatic action to bring hostile parties to a 

negotiated agreement. The United Nations Secretary-General, upon the request of the Security 

Council or the General Assembly or at his her own initiative, may exercise his or her “good 

offices” to facilitate the resolution of the conflict. Peacemakers may also be envoys, 

governments, groups of states, regional organizations or the United Nations. Peacemaking efforts 

may also be undertaken by unofficial and non-governmental groups, or by a prominent 

personality working independently. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Peace Operation 

A broad term that encompasses peacekeeping operations and peace enforcement operations 

conducted in support of diplomatic efforts to establish and maintain peace. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

120
A generic term sometimes used to encompass peacemaking, peacekeeping, peace enforcement, 

and peacebuilding, the lines between which are not always clear. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Peace Practice 

A term, coined by the Collaborative for Development Action’s Reflecting on Peace Practices 

project, referring to “a broad range of NGO work that seeks to address violent conflicts and build 

peace.” 

American Friends Service Committee Glossary 

 

Peace Support Force

A military force assigned to a peace support operation. 

NATO AAP-6

Peace Support Operation

An operation that impartially makes use of diplomatic, civil, and military means, normally in 

pursuit of United Nations Charter purposes and principles, to restore or maintain peace. Such 

operations may include conflict prevention, peacemaking peace enforcement, peacekeeping, 

peacebuilding and/or humanitarian operations. 

NATO AAP-6

Peace Writ Large 

Peace at the systemic level, either within a particular society or at the global level. 

American Friends Service Committee Glossary 

Persuasion 

Persuasion involves convincing another party to change their attitude and/or their behavior. 

Although this can be done through coercion, we generally use the term "persuasion" in a more 

positive sense – to refer to emotional or rational appeals based on common values and 

understandings. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Physical Security

1. That part of security concerned with physical measures designed to safeguard personnel; to 

prevent unauthorized access to equipment, installations, material, and documents; and to 

safeguard them against espionage, sabotage, damage, and theft. 

2. In communications security, the component that results from all physical measures necessary 

to safeguard classified equipment, material, and documents from access thereto or observation 

thereof by unauthorized persons. This definition is used in the Department of Defense only. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

121
Piracy 

An illegal act of violence, depredation (e.g., plundering, robbing, or pillaging), or detention in or 

over international waters committed for private ends by the crew or passengers of a private ship 

or aircraft against another ship or aircraft or against persons or property on board such ship or 

aircraft.

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Pivotal Factors 

Single or (most likely) configurations of factors that show up in (almost) all stages of the lifecycle of the conflict. As such, they can be seen as key factors leading to escalation or deescalation. They lie at the root of the conflict and as such are most important in policy making, as 

they need to be addressed in order to resolve the conflict. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

Planning

The process by which commanders (and staffs, if available) translate the commander’s 

visualization into a specific course of action for preparation and execution, focusing on the 

expected results. 

U.S. Army FM 3-24 

Pluralism 

A strategy for accommodating ethnic minorities that recognizes their individual and collective 

right to preserve their language, values, and ways of life in coexistence with those of the 

dominant group. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

Point Defense 

The defense or protection of special vital elements and installations; e.g., command and control 

facilities or air bases. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Polarization 

Polarization of a conflict occurs as a conflict rises in intensity (that is, escalates). Often as 

escalation occurs, more and more people get involved, and take strong positions either on one 

side or the other. "Polarization" refers to this process in which people move toward extreme 

positions ("poles"), leaving fewer and fewer people "in the middle." 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

122
Political Intelligence 

Intelligence concerning foreign and domestic policies of governments and the activities of 

political movements. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Political Legitimacy 

The perception of the citizenry that the nation’s political institutions and leaders are generally 

acting in accordance with their interests and needs. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

Population at Risk 

The strength in personnel of a given force structure in terms of which casualty rates are stated. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Positions 

Positions are what people say they want – the superficial demands they make of their opponent. 

According to Fisher and Ury, who first distinguished between interests and positions, positions 

are what people have decided upon, while interests are what caused them to decide. Often one 

side's position will be the opposite of their opponent’s, although their interests may actually be 

compatible. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Post-Conflict Transition 

The tenuous period immediately following the termination of conflict during which humanitarian 

needs must still be met and programs such as those for disarmament, demobilization, 

reintegration and rehabilitation and for rebuilding infrastructure remain at an early stage. This 

period may also involve the temporary transfer of government functions to a UN transitional 

administration, as occurred in Kosovo and East Timor. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Post-Hostilities Period 

That period subsequent to the date of ratification by political authorities of agreements to 

terminate hostilities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

123
Poverty 

Poverty is not just a matter of being relatively poorer than others in society, but of not having 

some basic opportunities of material well-being – the failure to have certain minimum 

capabilities. 

Sen, Amartya 

The state of being extremely poor; the state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount. 

Oxford Dictionary

Power 

Power is the ability to get what you want, or as conflict theorist Kenneth Boulding put it, to 

"change the future." This can occur through force (sometimes referred to as "power-over"), 

through cooperation (referred to as "power-with" or exchange power) or through the power of 

the integrative system – the system of identity and relationships that holds people together in 

groups. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary

Power Projection 

The ability of a nation to apply all or some of its elements of national power – political, 

economic, informational, or military – to rapidly and effectively deploy and sustain forces in and 

from multiple dispersed locations to respond to crises, to contribute to deterrence, and to enhance 

regional stability. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Practitioners 

Practitioners are people who engage in conflict resolution as a profession – mediators, 

arbitrators, facilitators, and diplomats, for example. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Predatory Economic Actors 

Broadly refer to any group or individual who engages in or directly benefits from illegal 

economic activity that promotes violence and/or undermines efforts for good governance and 

economic development. These actors can exist inside or outside of government. 

USIP Guiding Principles

Preemptive Attack 

An attack initiated on the basis of incontrovertible evidence that an enemy attack is imminent. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

124
Preparedness 

Activities undertaken in advance to ensure effective response to the impact of disasters. 

USAID Field Operations Guide 

Activities designed to minimise loss of life and damage, to organize the temporary removal for 

people and property from a threatened location and facilitate timely and effective rescue, relief 

and rehabilitation. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Preplanned Air Support 

Air support in accordance with a program, planned in advance of operations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Preplanned Mission Request 

A request for an air strike on a target that can be anticipated sufficiently in advance to permit 

detailed mission coordination and planning. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Presence 

The demonstration of the interest, commitment, and capacity to speedily apply power, especially 

military or economic power, through the placement of armed forces or official representatives in 

or near a country or region of concern. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

Prevention 

1. The security procedures undertaken by the public and private sectors in order to discourage 

terrorist acts. 

2. In space usage, measures to preclude an adversary’s hostile use of United States or third-party 

space systems and services. Prevention can include diplomatic, economic, and political 

measures. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Activities undertaken in advance to absolutely prevent the adverse impact of disasters. 

USAID Field Operations Guide 

Activities designed to provide permanent protection from disasters. It includes engineering and 

other physical protective measures, as well as legislative measures controlling land use and urban 

planning. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

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Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness

Actions taken to reduce disaster risks to actual or potential victims. PMP activities include 

strengthening the physical environment, reducing chronic threats to agriculture, training in 

disaster management and other actions designed to eliminate or moderate the effects of disasters. 

USAID Glossary of ADS Terms 

Preventive Deployment 

The deployment of military forces to deter violence at the interface or zone of potential conflict 

where tension is rising among parties. Forces may be employed in such a way that they are 

indistinguishable from a peace operations force in terms of equipment, force posture, and 

activities. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Preventive Diplomacy

Diplomatic actions taken in advance of a predictable crisis to prevent or limit violence. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

1. Action taken in vulnerable places and times to avoid the threat or use of armed force and 

related forms of coercion by states or groups to settle political disputes that can arise from the 

destabilizing effects of economic, social, political, and international change. 

2. Measures taken to prevent the breakdown of peaceful conditions. It aims to prevent existing 

tensions from escalating into violence and to contain the spread of conflict when it occurs. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

Preventive War

A war initiated in the belief that military conflict, while not imminent, is inevitable, and that to 

delay would involve greater risk. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Principled Negotiation 

An integrative negotiation strategy that calls for ‘separating the people from the problem,’ 

negotiating on the basis of interests rather than positions, identifying options for mutual gain, and 

using objective criteria to judge fairness of any proposed settlement. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Prisoner of War 

A detained person as defined in Articles 4 and 5 of the Geneva Convention Relative to the 

Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949. In particular, one who, while engaged in 

combat under orders of his or her government, is captured by the armed forces of the enemy. As 

such, he or she is entitled to the combatant’s privilege of immunity from the municipal law of the 

126
capturing state for warlike acts which do not amount to breaches of the law of armed conflict. 

For example, a prisoner of war may be, but is not limited to, any person belonging to one of the 

following categories who has fallen into the power of the enemy: a member of the armed forces, 

organized militia or volunteer corps; a person who accompanies the armed forces without 

actually being a member thereof; a member of a merchant marine or civilian aircraft crew not 

qualifying for more favorable treatment; or individuals who, on the approach of the enemy, 

spontaneously take up arms to resist the invading forces. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Private Military Firms/Contractors 

Businesses that provide governments with professional services intricately linked to warfare; 

they represent, in other words, the corporate evolution of the age-old profession of mercenaries. 

The industry is divided into three basic sectors: military provider firms (also known as "private 

security firms"), which offer tactical military assistance, including actual combat services, to 

clients; military consulting firms, which employ retired officers to provide strategic advice and 

military training; and military support firms, which provide logistics, intelligence, and 

maintenance services to armed forces, allowing the latter's soldiers to concentrate on combat and 

reducing their government's need to recruit more troops or call up more reserves. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Private Sector 

The part of an economy whose activities are under the control and direction of nongovernmental 

economic units such as households or firms. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

Proactive Measures

In antiterrorism, measures taken in the preventive stage of antiterrorism designed to harden 

targets and detect actions before they occur. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Problem-Solving Approach 

The problem solving approach to conflict involves working cooperatively with the other 

disputants to solve a common problem. It can be contrasted with the adversarial approach which 

views the other disputants as opponents or enemies to be defeated, not cooperated with. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Procedural Problems 

Procedural problems are problems with decision making procedures. Examples are decisions that 

are made without considering relevant and important facts, decisions that are made arbitrarily 

without considering the interests or needs of the affected people, or decisions that are made 

without following the established and accepted process. Often, procedural problems can intensify 

127
and complicate disputes which could be resolved relatively easily if proper procedures were 

followed. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Proclamation

A document published to the inhabitants of an area that sets forth the basis of authority and scope 

of activities of a commander in a given area and which defines the obligations, liabilities, duties, 

and rights of the population affected. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Proofing

In land operations, the process following breaching, route or area clearance to further reduce the 

risk from mines or other explosive ordnance, improvised explosive devices and booby traps in a 

defined area. 

NATO AAP-6

Propaganda

Any form of communication in support of national objectives designed to influence the opinions, 

emotions, attitudes, or behavior of any group in order to benefit the sponsor, either directly or 

indirectly. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Any information, ideas, doctrines, or special appeals disseminated to influence the opinion, 

emotions, attitudes, or behaviour of any specified group in order to benefit the sponsor either 

directly or indirectly. 

A. Black - Propaganda which purports to emanate from a source other than the true one. 

B. Grey - Propaganda which does not specifically identify any source. 

C. White - Propaganda disseminated and acknowledged by the sponsor or by an accredited 

agency thereof. 

NATO AAP-6 

An aspect of politcal warfare consisting of public dissemination of information, whether truthful 

or deceptive, intended to promote strategic or ideological objectives. Propaganda may be 

attributed, that is, acknowledged to be the product of the state; unattributed; or attributed to a 

source other than its true one. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

Proportional Representation 

Electoral system designed to produce legislative bodies in which the number of seats held by any 

group or party is proportional to the number of votes cast for members of that group. There are 

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several variations of this system. One purpose has been to provide minority groups with a degree 

of representation that may have been denied to them in the past. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

Protected Persons 

Persons accorded protection under International Humanitarian Law, who take no active part in 

the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those 

placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention or any other cause, shall in all 

circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, color, 

religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

Protection 

A concept that encompasses all activities aimed at obtaining full respect for the rights of the 

individual in accordance with the letter and spirit of human rights, refugee and international 

humanitarian law. Protection involves creating an environment conducive to respect for human 

beings, preventing and/or alleviating the immediate effects of a specific pattern of abuse, and 

restoring dignified conditions of life throughout reparation, restitution and rehabilitation. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Protective Security

The organized system of defensive measures instituted and maintained at all levels of command 

with the aim of achieving and maintaining security. 

NATO AAP-6

Protest 

An official, diplomatic notice of objection to a policy, practice, or action by a government or 

international organization. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

Protocol 

An agreement or an amendment to a preexisting agreement. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

Protracted Social Conflict 

Ongoing and apparently irresolvable conflicts mostly in developing countries centered on 

religious, cultural, or ethnic communal identity which in turn is dependent upon the satisfaction 

of basic needs such as security, communal recognition and distributive justice. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

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Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT)

Small civilian-military units that assist provincial and local governments to govern effectively 

and deliver essential services. 

MORS IW Glossary

Psychological Operations (PSYOP) 

Planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to 

influence their emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately, the behavior of foreign 

governments, organizations, groups, and individuals. The purpose of psychological operations is 

to induce or reinforce foreign attitudes and behavior favorable to the originator’s objectives. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Planned psychological activities designed to influence attitudes and behaviour affecting the 

achievement of political and military objectives. Related terms: battlefield psychological 

activities; peace support psychological activities; psychological consolidation activities; strategic 

psychological activities. 

NATO AAP-6 

Public Affairs 

Those public information, command information, and community relations activities directed 

toward both the external and internal publics with interest in the Department of Defense. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Public Affairs Assessment 

An analysis of the news media and public environments to evaluate the degree of understanding 

about strategic and operational objectives and military activities and to identify levels of public 

support. It includes judgments about the public affairs impact of pending decisions and 

recommendations about the structure of public affairs support for the assigned mission. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Public Diplomacy 

1. Those overt international public information activities of the United States Government 

designed to promote United States foreign policy objectives by seeking to understand, inform, 

and influence foreign audiences and opinion makers, and by broadening the dialogue between 

American citizens and institutions and their counterparts abroad. 

2. In peacebuilding, civilian agency efforts to promote an understanding of the reconstruction 

efforts, rule of law, and civic responsibility through public affairs and international public 

diplomacy operations. Its objective is to promote and sustain consent for peacebuilding both 

within the host nation and externally in the region and in the larger international community. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

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Advocacy openly directed at foreign publics in support of negotiations or broad policy positions 

and to enlist their backing for a particular position or outcome. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Public Sector 

The part of an economy in which goods and services are produced and/or (re)distributed by 

government agencies. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

Pursuit

An offensive operation designed to catch or cut off a hostile force attempting to escape, with the 

aim of destroying it. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

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Q 

Quick Response Force (QRF)

A company-sized force providing responsive, mission-tailored, lightly armed ground units that 

can deploy on short notice, with minimal lift assets, and capable of providing immediate or 

emergency response. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

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R 

Raid

An operation to temporarily seize an area in order to secure information, confuse an adversary, 

capture personnel or equipment, or to destroy a capability. It ends with a planned withdrawal 

upon completion of the assigned mission. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Rationing 

A system of distribution employed to restrict the quantities of goods and services that consumers 

or producers can purchase or be allocated freely. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

Readiness

The ability of US military forces to fight and meet the demands of the national military strategy. 

Readiness is the synthesis of two distinct but interrelated levels: 

A. Unit readiness — The ability to provide capabilities required by the combatant commanders 

to execute their assigned missions. This is derived from the ability of each unit to deliver the 

outputs for which it was designed. 

B. Joint readiness — The combatant commander’s ability to integrate and synchronize ready 

combat and support forces to execute his or her assigned missions. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Reconciliation 

The process through which conditions that lead to conflict are addressed and adversarial 

relationships are transformed into more harmonious ones. Sustainable peace is maintained as 

communities use nonviolent channels to resolve conflict, a sense of nationhood is established or 

restored, and social capital is enhanced. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

The long-term process by which the parties to a violent dispute build trust, learn to live 

cooperatively, and create a stable peace. It can happen at the individual level, the community 

level, and the national level. It may involve dialogue, admissions of guilt, judicial processes, 

truth commissions, ritual forgiveness, and sulha (a traditional Arabic form of ritual forgiveness 

and restitution). 

USIP Peace Terms 

Editor’s Note: Currently (2011) the term ‘reintegration’ is being used by coalition military 

forces in Afghanistan to describe the porcess by which an insurgent movement as a whole 

reaches an accomodation with the government to bring the insurgency to an end. 

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Reconnaissance (RECON) 

A mission undertaken to obtain, by visual observation or other detection methods, information 

about the activities and resources of an enemy or adversary, or to secure data concerning the 

meteorological, hydrographic, or geographic characteristics of a particular area. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Reconstruction 

The process of rebuilding degraded, damaged, or destroyed political, socioeconomic, and 

physical infrastructure of a country or territory to create the foundation for long-term 

development. 

U.S. Army FM 3-07 and USIP Peace Terms 

Actions taken to re-establish a community after a period of rehabilitation subsequent to a 

disaster. Actions include construction of permanent housing, full restoration of all services and 

complete resumption of the pre-disaster state. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

Recovery 

A focus on how best to restore the capacity of the government and communities to rebuild and 

recover from crisis and to prevent relapses into conflict. In so doing, recovery seeks not only to 

catalyze sustainable development activities but also to build upon earlier humanitarian programs 

to ensure that their inputs become assets for development. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Recovery Operations 

Operations conducted to search for, locate, identify, recover, and return isolated personnel, 

human remains, sensitive equipment, or items critical to national security. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Referendum 

A decision on policy proposals by a direct vote of the electorate. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

Reframing 

To look at a problem from new perspectives in order to find ways to reduce tensions or break a 

deadlock. Reframing is the process of redefining a situation—seeing a conflict in a new way, 

usually based on input from other people 

USIP Peace Terms 

134
Refoulement 

A state forcibly returning a refugee or asylum-seeker to a country where his or her life or 

freedom is threatened. Refoulement is prohibited under Article 33 of the UN Refugee 

Convention and other international instruments, yet many states violate this obligation and return 

refugees to countries where they are at grave risk. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

Refugee(s) 

A person who, by reason of real or imagined danger, has left their home country or country of 

their nationality and is unwilling or unable to return. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Individuals who are outside the country of their nationality due to well-founded fear of being 

persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, or membership of a social group or political 

opinion. 

USIP Guiding Principles 

Persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or 

places of habitual relationships, partiuclarly as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of 

armed violence, situations of generalized violence, or violence of human rights and who have 

crossed an internationaly recognized state border. 

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Handbook for Emergencies 

A person seeking asylum in another country on the basis of a well-founded fear of persecution in 

his or her homeland. 

Diplomat’s Dictionary 

Reinsertion 

The assistance offered to ex-combatants during demobilization but prior to the longer term 

process of reintegration. Reinsertion is a form of transitional assistance to help cover basic needs 

of ex-combatants and their families and can include transitional safety allowances, food, clothes, 

shelter, medical services, short-term education, training, employment, and tools. Reinsertion is a 

short term material and/or financial assistance to meet immediate needs. 

UN DDR Resource Center 

Reintegration

The process by which ex-combatants acquire civilian status and gain sustainable employment 

and income. Reintegration is essentially a social and economic process with an open timeframe, 

primarily taking place in communities at the local level. It is part of the general development of a 

country and a national responsibility, and often necessitiates long term external assistance. 

UN DDR Resource Center 

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1. The process which allows ex-combatants and their families to adapt, economically and 

socially, to productive civilian life. It generally entails the provision of a package of cash or inkind compensation, training, and job- and income-generating projects. These measures 

frequently depend for their effectiveness upon other, broader undertakings, such as assistance to 

returning refugees and internally displaced persons; economic development at the community 

and national level; infrastructure rehabilitation; truth and reconciliation efforts; and institutional 

reform. Enhancement of local capacity is often crucial for the long-term success of reintegration. 

2. The process of facilitating the transition of refugees and internally displaced persons back into 

their communities of origin. In the context of ex-soldiers, it is the process of facilitating their 

return to civilian life. 

MORS IW Glossary 

Editor’s Note: Currently (2011) the term ‘reintegration’ is being used by coalition military 

forces in Afghanistan to describe the process by which insurgents (fighters and groups of 

fighters) opt out of the insurgency and peacefully rejoin their communities. 

Relationship Problems 

Relationship problems are problems between two or more people that involve, most importantly, 

the relationship between those two people. For example, conflicts can be caused because two 

people don't trust each other, or because they are in constant, hostile competition with each other. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Relief 

Dispatch of vital material goods and services (clean water, blankets, tents, medicine, food etc.) to 

victims of disaster.

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

Repatriate

A person who returns to his or her country or citizenship, having left said native country either 

against his or her will, or as one of a group who left for reason of politics, religion, or other 

pertinent reasons. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Repression 

1. Actions, usually taken by a regime or vigilantes, to restrain a political opponent from 

mobilizing. It involves both non-lethal and lethal coercive measures. Repression is not the 

exclusive prerogative of state actors; national liberation movements, resistance groups and 

terrorist actors also use it for internal discipline. 

2. Government policies that forcefully restrict the movement and political activities of most or all 

members of a group. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

136
Resolution-Resistant Conflict 

We use this term to refer to conflicts that are highly difficult, but not impossible, to resolve. The 

term "intractable conflict" means the same thing, but often we use “resolution-resistant” instead 

because some people interpret “intractable” to mean “impossible.” 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Responsibility 

1. The obligation to carry forward an assigned task to a successful conclusion. With 

responsibility goes authority to direct and take the necessary action to ensure success. 

2. The obligation for the proper custody, care, and safekeeping of property or funds entrusted to 

the possession or supervision of an individual. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Responsibility to Protect (R2P) 

A recently developed concept, R2P asserts that states have an ethical and legal responsibility to 

protect their people against genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing, 

but if a state is unable or unwilling to do so, that responsibility falls to the international 

community, which may intervene militarily in extreme cases. A controversial concept, R2P can 

be applied to all parts of the conflict curve, for those who accept its far-reaching implications. 

USIP Peace Terms

A concept that imposes a responsibility on the international community to protect a population 

that is suffering serious harm, as a result of internal war, insurgency, repression or state failure, 

and the state in question is unwilling or unable to halt or avert it. The 2001 Report of the 

International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty notes that the responsibility to 

protect encompasses three essential components: 

1) the responsibility to prevent a human catastrophe by addressing root causes and direct causes 

of internal conflict and other man-made crises; 

2) the responsibility to react to an actual or apprehended situation of compelling human need, 

should one occur, with appropriate measures, which may include coercive measures such as 

sanctions, international prosecution and military intervention in extreme cases; 

3) the responsibility to rebuild after the intervention through the provision of full assistance with 

recovery, reconstruction and reconciliation. The responsibility to protect is founded on the 

obligations inherent in the concept of state sovereignty, the responsibility of the Security Council 

under Article 24 of the UN Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security, 

specific legal obligations under human rights and human protection instruments, international 

humanitarian law and national laws, as well as, in the developing practice of states, regional 

organizations and the security Council. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

137
Restitution 

Restitution involves paying a person or group back for harm that was done to them. Although 

lost lives can never be replaced, making a symbolic repayment of money, social or economic 

assistance, or otherwise alleviating damage or harm that was done as much as possible can go a 

long way toward resolving a conflict and moving toward reconciliation. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Restorative Justice 

Restorative justice is justice that is not designed to punish the wrong-doer, but rather to restore 

the victim and the relationship to the way they were before the offence. Thus, restorative justice 

requires an apology from the offender, restitution for the offense, and forgiveness from the 

victim. Often this is accomplished through victim-offender reconciliation programs which may 

operate at either the interpersonal or intergroup level. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Restraint 

In the context of joint operation planning, a requirement placed on the command by a higher 

command that prohibits an action, thus restricting freedom of action. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Restricted Target 

A valid target that has specific restrictions placed on the actions authorized against it due to 

operational considerations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Revolution 

Forcible, pervasive, and often violent change of a social, political, or economic order. Revolution 

is the most extreme political option of a dissenting group, a course taken generally when more 

moderate attempts to achieve reform have failed. A revolution is distinguished from a coup 

d’état, which is a sudden seizure of state power by a small faction that does not necessarily 

change the social system, and a revolt or rebellion, which may be either a failed attempt at 

revolution or a violent expression of grievances. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

Riot Control Agent 

Any chemical, not listed in a schedule of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, 

Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction which can 

rapidly produce in humans sensory irritation or disabling physical effects which disappear within 

a short time following termination of exposure. 

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DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Riot Control Operations 

The employment of riot control agents and/or special tactics, formations, and equipment in the 

control of violent disorders. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Ripeness 

A conflict is said to be "ripe" for settlement or negotiation when it has reached a stalemate, or 

when all of the parties have determined that their alternatives to negotiation will not get them 

what they want or need. In this case, they are likely to be ready to negotiate a settlement which 

will attain at least part of their interests – more than they are getting otherwise or stand to get if 

they pursue their force-based options further. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Risk 

Probability and severity of loss linked to hazards. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

A situation in which the probability of obtaining some outcome of an event is not precisely 

known; that is, known probabilities cannot be precisely assigned to these outcomes, but their 

general level can be inferred. In everyday usage, a risky situation is one in which the one of the 

outcomes involves some loss to the decision maker. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

A person or thing regarded as likely to turn out well or badly, as specified, in a particular context 

or respect; the possibility that something unpleasant or unwelcome will happen. 

Oxford Dictionary 

Risk Analysis 

An analysis or an assessment of factors (called assumptions in the long frame) that affect, or are 

likely to affect, the successful achievement of an intervention’s objectives. It is a systematic 

process to provide information regarding undesirable consequences based on quantification of 

the probabilities and/or expert judgment. 

USAID Glossary of Evaluation Terms 

Risk Assessment 

The identification and assessment of hazards (first two steps of risk management process). 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

In conflict studies, an analysis that attempts to identify and evaluate factors that make a given 

country or community likely to descend into violent conflict. It is essentially a probability 

139
analysis although it is generally not possible to give a precise quantitative assessment of the risk. 

Risk assessment typically represents a medium- or long-term analysis. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

Risk Management 

The process of identifying, assessing, and controlling risks arising from operational factors and 

making decisions that balance risk cost with mission benefits. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Rogue State 

A state that, for one reason or another, does not feel it should cooperate with the rules established 

by other nations of the world. 

DoS website

Rules of Engagement (ROE) 

Directives issued by competent military authority that delineate the circumstances and 

limitations under which United States forces will initiate and/or continue combat engagement 

with other forces encountered. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Directives issued by competent military authority which specify the circumstances and 

limitations under which forces will initiate and/or continue combat engagement with other forces 

encountered. 

NATO AAP-6 

Rule of Law

Belief that all actions, of individuals and governments, are subject to an institutionalized set of 

rules and regulations. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

A principle of governance in which all persons and institutions, public and private, including the 

state itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly announced, equally enforced and 

independently adjudicated, and consistent with international human rights norms and standards. 

The drafting of laws must be transparent, and they must be applied fairly and without 

arbitrariness. In addition, all persons must have access to justice—the ability to seek and obtain a 

remedy through informal or formal institutions of justice. 

USIP Peace Terms 

140
A principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, 

including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced 

and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms 

and standards. 

UN Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines 

Rules for the Use of Force (RUF) 

Directives issued to guide United States forces on the use of force during various operations. 

These directives may take the form of execute orders, deployment orders, memoranda of 

agreement, or plans. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Ruse

In military deception, a trick of war designed to deceive the adversary, usually involving the 

deliberate exposure of false information to the adversary’s intelligence collection system. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

141
S 

Sabotage

An act or acts with intent to injure, interfere with, or obstruct the national defense of a country by 

willfully injuring or destroying, or attempting to injure or destroy, any national defense or war 

materiel, premises, or utilities, to include human and natural resources. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Safe Area (Safety Zones)

A designated area in hostile territory that offers the evader or escapee a reasonable chance of 

avoiding capture and of surviving until he or she can be evacuated. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Areas, zones, or locations established to protect civilians during a time of conflict. The terms and 

conditions of establishing safety zones are governed by the law of armed conflict. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Safe Haven

1. Designated area(s) to which noncombatants of the United States Government’s responsibility 

and commercial vehicles and materiel may be evacuated during a domestic or other valid 

emergency. 

2. Temporary storage provided to Department of Energy classified shipment transporters at 

Department of Defense facilities in order to assure safety and security of nuclear material and/or 

nonnuclear classified material. Also includes parking for commercial vehicles containing Class 

A or Class B explosives. 

3. A protected body of water or the well deck of an amphibious ship used by small craft 

operating offshore for refuge from storms or heavy seas. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Sanctions 

Actions typically taken by countries to influence the behavior of other parties. Sanctions can be 

diplomatic (reduction of diplomatic ties, for example), economic (embargoes, freezing of assets), 

personal (targeted travel bans), or cultural (limits on educational exchanges). The effectiveness 

of sanctions has been much debated, as have the detrimental effects on innocent civilians. 

USIP Peace Terms 

142
Sanctuary

A nation or area near or contiguous to the combat area that, by tacit agreement between the 

warring powers, is exempt from attack and therefore serves as a refuge for staging, logistic, or 

other activities of the combatant powers. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Scale-up Problem 

Most negotiations and other conflict resolution processes occur among a small group of people. 

In intergroup, inter-organizational, and international conflicts, these negotiators represent a large 

number of other people, not just themselves. Getting those people – the constituents – to agree to 

the settlement developed by the negotiators is often a problem, as they have not gone through the 

same trust-building and understanding-improving process that the negotiators have experienced. 

We refer to this as the "scale-up problem," as the small group understandings and trust must be 

"scaled up" to the larger population if peacebuilding is to be effective. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Scoping 

Scoping is the process of determining who else is involved in a conflict and what their interests, 

needs, and positions are. It also involves the determination of external constraints that affect the 

situation and any other factors that define the conflict situation beyond one's own view of the 

conflict. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Search and Rescue (SAR)

The use of aircraft, surface craft, submarines, and specialized rescue teams and equipment to 

search for and rescue distressed persons on land or at sea in a permissive environment. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Sector

An area designated by boundaries within which a unit operates, and for which it is responsible. 

NATO AAP-6

Secure

In an operational context, to gain possession of a position or terrain feature, with or without 

force, and to make such disposition as will prevent, as far as possible, its destruction or loss by 

enemy action. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

 

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Security

1. Measures taken by a military unit, activity, or installation to protect itself against all acts 

designed to, or which may, impair its effectiveness. 

2. A condition that results from the establishment and maintenance of protective measures that 

ensure a state of inviolability from hostile acts or influences. 

3. With respect to classified matter, the condition that prevents unauthorized persons from 

having access to official information that is safeguarded in the interests of national security. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

1. The condition achieved when designated information, materiel, personnel, activities and 

installations are protected against espionage, sabotage, subversion and terrorism, as well as 

against loss or unauthorized disclosure. 

2. The measures necessary to achieve protection against espionage, sabotage, subversion and 

terrorism, as well as against loss or unauthorized disclosure. 

3. The organizations responsible for protecting against espionage, sabotage, subversion and 

terrorism, as well as against loss or unauthorized disclosure. 

NATO AAP-6 

Security Assistance

Group of programs authorized by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, and the Arms 

Export Control Act of 1976, as amended, or other related statutes by which the United States 

provides defense articles, military training, and other defense-related services by grant, loan, 

credit, or cash sales in furtherance of national policies and objectives. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Security Cooperation

All Department of Defense interactions with foreign defense establishments to build defense 

relationships that promote specific US security interests, develop allied and friendly military 

capabilities for self-defense and multinational operations, and provide US forces with peacetime 

and contingency access to a host nation. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Security Countermeasures

Those protective activities required to prevent espionage, sabotage, theft, or unauthorized use of 

classified or controlled information, systems, or material of the Department of Defense. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Security Intelligence

Intelligence on the identity, capabilities, and intentions of hostile organizations or individuals 

who are or may be engaged in espionage, sabotage, subversion, or terrorism. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

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Security Sector 

The security sector is defined as those who are, or should be, responsible for protecting the state 

and communities within the state. This includes military, paramilitary, intelligence, border 

control, and police services as well as those civilian structures responsible for oversight and 

control of the security forces and for the administration of justice. 

USIP Peace Terms

Security Sector Reform (SSR) 

The set of policies, plans, programs, and activities that a government undertakes to improve the 

way it provides safety, security, and justice. 

USIP Guiding Principles

Self-Defense

A commander has the authority and obligation to use all necessary means available and to take 

all appropriate action to defend that commander’s unit and other US forces in the vicinity from a 

hostile act or hostile intent. Force used should not exceed that which is necessary to decisively 

counter the hostile act or intent and ensure the continued safety of US forces or other persons and 

property they are ordered to protect. US forces may employ such force in self-defense only so 

long as the hostile force continues to present an imminent threat. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Self-Determination

The principle that an individual, community, or a government has the right to determine its own 

course of affairs without outside interference. This principle is often used by governments to 

oppose foreign influence in its internal affairs, while other groups frequently use it to justify a 

change of government or nationalist causes. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

The right of a people to determine their own political status. That could mean full independence, 

or it could mean a greater degree of autonomy and linguistic or religious identity within an 

existing state 

USIP Peace Terms

Self-Reliance 

Reliance on one’s own capabilities, judgment, resources, and skills in a bid to enhance political, 

economic, social, cultural, attitudinal, and moral independence. Countries may also desire selfreliance in particular aspects such as food production, labor, and skills. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

145
Sensitive

Requiring special protection from disclosure that could cause embarrassment, compromise, or 

threat to the security of the sponsoring power. May be applied to an agency, installation, person, 

position, document, material, or activity. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Separatism 

A movement by a region or territory or ethnic group to break away from a country of which it is 

a part. For example, since the fall of communism, separatism has broken out in many regions in 

Europe, where groups of people with a distinct cultural identity have sought to free themselves 

from the larger nation that formerly contained them.

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

Seventh Floor 

Department of State terminology referring to the Secretary of State, the Deputy Secretary and the 

Under Secretaries. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms 

Shadowing

To observe and maintain contact (not necessarily continuously) with a unit or force. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Show of Force

An operation designed to demonstrate US resolve that involves increased visibility of US 

deployed forces in an attempt to defuse a specific situation that, if allowed to continue, may be 

detrimental to US interests or national objectives. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Side Payment 

A payment made to a party or parties to induce them to join an agreement. Such inducements 

frequently take the form of aid or trade preferences. 

USIP Peace Terms

Sixth Floor 

State Department terminology referring to the next lower echelon within the Department; i.e., the 

Assistant Secretary level. 

DoS Glossary of Government Acronyms 

146
Small Arms

Man portable, individual, and crew-served weapon systems used mainly against personnel and 

lightly armored or unarmored equipment. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Weapons capable of being carried and operated by one individual, such as pistols, rifles, light 

machine guns, and rocket-propelled grenades. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

Social Capital 

The resources that create a strong network of institutionalized relationships in society. These 

connections between individuals and between social networks facilitate civic engagement and 

encourage bargaining, compromise, and pluralistic politics, as well as contributing to economic 

and social development. 

USIP Peace Terms

Social Conflict 

Social conflict is a contentious interactive process between two or more interdependent social 

actors in which there is either a real or perceived divergence of interest, or a belief that the 

current aspirations of the various social actors involved cannot be achieved simultaneously. The 

term “social actors” is used to refer to groups of individuals with a shared sense that their 

interests are incompatible with those of another group or groups, and that believe that they can 

advance their interests by acting together. 

American Friends Service Committee Glossary 

Social Constructionism 

A perception of an individual, group, or idea that is constructed through cultural and social 

practices but appears to be ‘natural’ or ‘the way things are.’ For example, the idea that women 

“naturally” like to do housework is a social construction because this idea appears “natural” due 

to its historical repetition rather than being “true” in any essential sense. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

Social Context 

The social relationships that exist in a community at the time the conflict occurs. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Social Indicators 

Non-economic measures of development, such as life expectancy at birth, infant mortality rate, 

or literacy rate. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

147
Social Justice 

A condition of society where political, religious, cultural, and civil rights enjoy full protection; 

there is little or no political or social discrimination; all individuals are free to participate in 

political processes and society; basic human needs are met for all residents and resources are 

distributed fairly; rule of law and security are guaranteed. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

Soft Bargaining 

This is a term used to refer to very cooperative, conciliatory bargaining that focuses primarily on 

reaching an agreement and not making the other side upset. Fisher and Ury contrast it with 

adversarial, competitive bargaining that assumes that the opponent is an enemy to be defeated, 

rather than a partner to be worked with cooperatively. They contrast both these approaches with 

a third approach, principled negotiation, which is neither hard nor soft, but rather integrative in 

its approach. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Source

1. A person, thing, or activity from which information is obtained. 

2. In clandestine activities, a person (agent), normally a foreign national, in the employ of an 

intelligence activity for intelligence purposes. 

3. In interrogation activities, any person who furnishes information, either with or without the 

knowledge that the information is being used for intelligence purposes. In this context, a 

controlled source is in the employment or under the control of the intelligence activity and 

knows that the information is to be used for intelligence purposes. An uncontrolled source is a 

voluntary contributor of information and may or may not know that the information is to be used 

for intelligence purposes. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Sovereignty

The principle of non-interference in the affairs of independent and self-governing states. In 

practice, however, states often allow sovereignty to be breached through, for example, 

international covenants or trade agreements. 

USIP Study Guide 

Special Agent 

A person, either United States military or civilian, who is a specialist in military security or the 

collection of intelligence or counterintelligence information. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

148
Special Operations 

Operations conducted in hostile, denied, or politically sensitive environments to achieve military, 

diplomatic, informational, and/or economic objectives employing military capabilities for which 

there is no broad conventional force requirement. These operations often require covert, 

clandestine, or low visibility capabilities. Special operations are applicable across the range of 

military operations. They can be conducted independently or in conjunction with operations of 

conventional forces or other government agencies and may include operations through, with, or 

by indigenous or surrogate forces. Special operations differ from conventional operations in 

degree of physical and political risk, operational techniques, mode of employment, independence 

from friendly support, and dependence on detailed operational intelligence and indigenous 

assets. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, trained and equipped forces 

using operational techniques and modes of employment not standard to conventional forces. 

These activities are conducted across the full range of military operations independently or in 

coordination with operations of conventional forces to achieve political, military, psychological 

and economic objectives. Politico-military considerations may require clandestine, covert or 

discreet techniques and the acceptance of a degree of physical and political risk not associated 

with conventional operations. 

NATO AAP-6

Special Operations Forces (SOF) 

Those Active and Reserve Component forces of the Military Services designated by the 

Secretary of Defense and specifically organized, trained, and equipped to conduct and support 

special operations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Spoilers 

Individuals or parties who believe that the peace process threatens their power and interests and 

will therefore work to undermine it. 

USIP Guiding Principles

Spoiling Attack

A tactical maneuver employed to seriously impair a hostile attack while the enemy is in the 

process of forming or assembling for an attack. Usually employed by armored units in defense 

by an attack on enemy assembly positions in front of a main line of resistance or battle position. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

149
Stable Peace 

Stable peace is the situation in which two countries do not even consider war to be an acceptable 

or possible option for dispute resolution between them. It is contrasted with unstable peace in 

which countries are at peace but think that war is possible at a future time. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Stability 

A characteristic of a state or a nation that determines its likelihood to continue or last. The 

tendency of such a state or a nation to recover from perturbations and resist sudden change or 

deterioration. 

USIP Guiding Principles

Stability Operations

An overarching term encompassing various military missions, tasks, and activities conducted 

outside the United States in coordination with other instruments of national power to maintain or 

reestablish a safe and secure environment, provide essential governmental services, emergency 

infrastructure reconstruction, and humanitarian relief. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Stabilization 

Ending or preventing the recurrence of violent conflict and creating the conditions for normal 

economic activity and nonviolent politics. 

USIP Guiding Principles

Stakeholders 

Stakeholders are people who will be affected by a conflict or the resolution of that conflict. It 

includes current disputants, and also people who are not currently involved in the conflict but 

might become involved because they are likely to be affected by the conflict or its outcome 

sometime in the future. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Standardization

The process by which the Department of Defense achieves the closest practicable cooperation 

among the Services and Department of Defense agencies for the most efficient use of research, 

development, and production resources, and agrees to adopt on the broadest possible basis the 

use of: A. common or compatible operational, administrative, and logistic procedures; B. 

common or compatible technical procedures and criteria; C. common, compatible, or 

interchangeable supplies, components, weapons, or equipment; and D. common or compatible 

tactical doctrine with corresponding organizational compatibility. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

150
Standing Operating Procedure (SOP)

A set of instructions covering those features of operations which lend themselves to a definite or 

standardized procedure without loss of effectiveness. The procedure is applicable unless ordered 

otherwise. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

State Capacity 

A country’s ability to maximize its prosperity and stability, to exert de facto control over its 

territory, to protect its population from predation, and to adapt to diverse crises. In other words, it 

is the capability of the government to satisfy the state’s most important needs: survival, 

protection of citizens from physical harm as a result of internal and external predation, economic 

prosperity and stability, effective governance, territorial integrity, and power and ideological 

projection. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

State Failure 

The collapse of central authority. State failure can be manifested by revolutionary wars 

(sustained military conflict between insurgents and central governments aimed at displacing the 

regime); ethnic wars (secessionist civil wars, rebellions, protracted communal warfare and 

sustained episodes of mass protest by politically organized communal groups); genocides and 

politicides (sustained policies by states or their agents); civil wars by contending authorities that 

result in the deaths of a substantial portion of members of communal or political groups; or 

adverse or disruptive regime transitions (major, abrupt shifts in patterns of governance, including 

state collapse, periods of severe instability, and shifts towards authoritarian rule. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

State Responsibility 

The principle that States bear primary responsibility for the functions of protecting the physical 

security and lives of their citizens and promoting their welfare. During complex emergencies 

occurring within their territories, this includes initiating, organizing, coordinating , and 

implementing humanitarian assistance programs. State responsibility also means that national 

political authorities are responsible to the citizens internally and to the international community 

through the UN, and are accountable for their acts of commission and omission. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

State Sovereignty 

A concept that signifies the legal identity of states in international law and provides order, 

stability and predictability in international relations since sovereign states are regarded equal, 

regardless of comparative size or wealth. Sovereignty is not a grant to states of unlimited power 

to do all that is not expressed forbidden by international law rather, it entails the totality on 

international rights and duties recognized by international law. The principle of sovereign 

151
equality of states is enshrined in Article 2.1 of the UN Charter and means that sovereign state is 

empowered to exercise exclusive and total jurisdiction within its territorial borders without 

intervention from other states (principles of non-intervention). Membership of the UN is viewed 

as the final symbol of independent sovereign statehood and the seal of acceptance into the 

community of nations. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Stateless Person

Civilian who has been denationalized or whose country of origin cannot be determined or who 

cannot establish a right to the nationality claimed. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Status-of-Forces Agreement (SOFA)

An agreement that defines the legal position of a visiting military force deployed in the territory 

of a friendly state. Agreements delineating the status of visiting military forces may be bilateral 

or multilateral. Provisions pertaining to the status of visiting forces may be set forth in a separate 

agreement, or they may form a part of a more comprehensive agreement. These provisions 

describe how the authorities of a visiting force may control members of that force and the 

amenability of the force or its members to the local law or to the authority of local officials. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Strategic Advantage

The overall relative power relationship of opponents that enables one nation or group of nations 

effectively to control the course of a military or political situation. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Strategic Concept

The course of action accepted as the result of the estimate of the strategic situation. It is a 

statement of what is to be done in broad terms sufficiently flexible to permit its use in framing 

the military, diplomatic, economic, informational, and other measures which stem from it. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Strategic Direction

The common thread that integrates and synchronizes the activities of the Joint Staff, combatant 

commands, Services, and combat support agencies. As an overarching term, strategic direction 

encompasses the processes and products by which the President, Secretary of Defense, and 

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff provide strategic guidance in the form of various strategic 

products. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

152
Strategic Estimate

The estimate of the broad strategic factors that influence the determination of missions, 

objectives, and courses of action. The estimate is continuous and includes the strategic direction 

received from the President, Secretary of Defense, or the authoritative body of an alliance or 

coalition. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Strategic Intelligence

Intelligence required for the formation of policy and military plans at national and international 

levels. Strategic intelligence and tactical intelligence differ primarily in level of application, but 

may also vary in terms of scope and detail. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Strategic Level of War

The level of war at which a nation ...determines national or multinational (alliance or coalition) 

strategic security objectives and guidance, and develops and uses national resources to achieve 

these objectives. Activities at this level establish national and multinational military objectives; 

sequence initiatives; define limits and assess risks for the use of military and other instruments of 

national power; develop global plans or theater war plans to achieve those objectives; and 

provide military forces and other capabilities in accordance with strategic plans. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Strategic Mobility

The capability to deploy and sustain military forces worldwide in support of national strategy. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Strategic Vulnerability 

The susceptibility of vital instruments of national power to being seriously decreased or 

adversely changed by the application of actions within the capability of another nation to impose. 

Strategic vulnerability may pertain to political, geographic, economic, informational, scientific, 

sociological, or military factors. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Strategy 

1. A prudent idea or set of ideas for employing the instruments of national power in a 

synchronized and integrated fashion to achieve theater, national, and/or multinational objectives. 

2. The art and science of developing and employing instruments of national power in a 

synchronized and integrated fashion to achieve theater, national, and/or multinational objectives. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

153
Structural Violence 

An important but insufficiently appreciated means by which government policies result in large 

numbers of deaths: the creation or tolerance of harmful social conditions. While impaired health 

and life expectancies may result from what we might term behavioral violence, less explicit 

structural violence can have the same effects. Situations in which a group of people suffer 

because they are denied resources to meet their basic needs. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

Subversion 

Action designed to undermine the military, economic, psychological, or political strength or 

morale of a regime. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Support 

1. The action of a force that aids, protects, complements, or sustains another force in accordance 

with a directive requiring such action. 

2. A unit that helps another unit in battle. 

3. An element of a command that assists, protects, or supplies other forces in combat. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Support to Counterinsurgency 

Support provided to a government in the military, paramilitary, political, economic, 

psychological, and civic actions it undertakes to defeat insurgency. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Support to Insurgency 

Support provided to an organized movement aimed at the overthrow of a constituted government 

through use of subversion and armed conflict. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Surveillance

The systematic observation of aerospace, surface or subsurface areas, places, persons, or things, 

by visual, aural, electronic, photographic, or other means. 

NATO AAP-6

Survivability 

Concept which includes all aspects of protecting personnel, weapons, and supplies while 

simultaneously deceiving the enemy. Survivability tactics include building a good defense; 

154
employing frequent movement; using concealment, deception, and camouflage; and constructing 

fighting and protective positions for both individuals and equipment. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE)

Actions performed by isolated personnel designed to ensure their health, mobility, safety, and 

honor in anticipation of or preparation for their return to friendly control. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Suspect 

1. In counterdrug operations, a track of interest where correlating information actually ties the 

track of interest to alleged illegal drug operations. 

2. An identity applied to a track that is potentially hostile because of its characteristics, behavior, 

origin, or nationality. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Sustainable Peace 

The existence of peaceful and cooperative relationships among groups in society that are 

sustainable from one generation to the next. Effective processes that empower people and 

strengthen their capacity to participate in the economic, social and political life of their 

communities, thereby increasing their capacity to attain economic and social well-being for 

themselves and their families are prerequisites for sustainable peace. In other words, sustainable 

peace depends upon improvements in human security and better conditions for human 

development. 

American Friends Service Committee Glossary 

Sustainable Security 

The ability of a society to solve its own law and order problems and security from external 

threats peacefully without an external administration or military presence. The standard by which 

one measures sustainability security is the existence of the immutable core of a state, specifically 

four core institutions: a competent domestic police force and corrections system; an efficient and 

functioning civil service or professional bureaucracy; an independent judicial system that works 

under the rule of law; and a professional and disciplined military accountable to a legitimate 

civilian authority.

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

Sustainability 

In general, the ability to maintain something indefinitely. In capacity building, sustainability 

means creating capacity that will remain in place and effective even after the initiative ends or 

the intervener departs. In development, it means meeting the needs of the present without 

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In the context of natural 

155
resources, sustainability refers to harnessing natural resources without depleting them. In the 

broader context of the environment, it means satisfying basic human needs while maintaining 

environmental quality. 

USIP Peace Terms

Systems Support Contractors

Contract personnel, normally with high levels of technical expertise, hired to support specific 

military systems. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

156
T 

Tactical Air Support 

Air operations carried out in coordination with surface forces and which directly assist land or 

maritime operations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Tactical Escalation 

The intentional escalation of a conflict, when one (or multiple) parties escalate a conflict on 

purpose to try to mobilize support for their own side.

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary

Tactical Level of War 

The level of war at which battles and engagements are planned and executed to achieve military 

objectives assigned to tactical units or task forces. Activities at this level focus on the ordered 

arrangement and maneuver of combat elements in relation to each other and to the enemy to 

achieve combat objectives. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Tactical Intelligence 

Intelligence required for the planning and conduct of tactical operations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Tactical Security 

In operations, the measures necessary to deny information to the enemy and to ensure that a 

force retains its freedom of action and is warned or protected against an unexpected encounter 

with the enemy or an attack. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Tactics 

The employment and ordered arrangement of forces in relation to each other. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Target 

1. An entity or object considered for possible engagement or other action. 

2. In intelligence usage, a country, area, installation, agency, or person against which intelligence 

operations are directed. 

157
3. An area designated and numbered for future firing. 

4. In gunfire support usage, an impact burst that hits the target. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Task Force 

1. A temporary grouping of units, under one commander, formed for the purpose of carrying out 

a specific operation or mission. 

2. A semi-permanent organization of units, under one commander, formed for the purpose of 

carrying out a continuing specific task. 

3. A component of a fleet organized by the commander of a task fleet or higher authority for the 

accomplishment of a specific task or tasks. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Techniques

Non-prescriptive ways or methods used to perform missions, functions, or tasks. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Terrorism 

The calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended 

to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally 

political, religious, or ideological. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

The use of violence, typically against civilians, for the purpose of attracting attention to a 

political cause, encouraging others to join in, or intimidating opponents into concessions. Some 

terrorists aim to produce a harsh reaction by their opponents that will in turn generate support for 

the terrorists’ issues. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Editor’s Note: There is little international consensus on the strict definition of this term. In 

academic circles terrorism is widely defined as the fear-inducing use of violence or threats of 

violence, employed by clandestine individual, group or state actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal 

or political purposes. The immediate human victims of violence are generally chosen to serve as 

message generators. Through threats, fear, violence, coercion, intimidation or propaganda, the 

aim is to manipulate adversaries into meeting political or ideological demands. Most authorities 

identify terrorism as a criminal activity, subject to civil law. 

Terrorist

An individual who commits an act or acts of violence or threatens violence in pursuit of political, 

religious, or ideological objectives. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

158
Terrorist Group

Any number of terrorists who assemble together, have a unifying relationship, or are organized 

for the purpose of committing an act or acts of violence or threaten violence in pursuit of their 

political, religious, or ideological objectives. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Terrorist Threat Level 

An intelligence threat assessment of the level of terrorist threat faced by US personnel and 

interests in a foreign country. The assessment is based on a continuous intelligence analysis of a 

minimum of five elements: terrorist group existence, capability, history, trends, and targeting. 

Threat levels should not be confused with force protection conditions. Threat level assessments 

are provided to senior leaders to assist them in determining the appropriate local force protection 

condition. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Theater of Operations

An operational area defined by the geographic combatant commander for the conduct or support 

of specific military operations. Multiple theaters of operations normally will be geographically 

separate and focused on different missions. Theaters of operations are usually of significant size, 

allowing for operations in depth and over extended periods of time. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Theater of War

Defined by the Secretary of Defense or the geographic combatant commander, the area of air, 

land, and water that is, or may become, directly involved in the conduct of war. A theater of war 

does not normally encompass the geographic combatant commander’s entire area of 

responsibility and may contain more than one theater of operations. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Theater Security Cooperation Plan (TSCP) 

Strategic planning document intended to link combatant-commander-planned regional 

engagement activities with national strategic objectives, thus supporting the engagement portion 

of the National Security Strategy and National Military Strategy. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Theater Strategy

Concepts and courses of action directed toward securing the objectives of national and 

multinational policies and strategies through the synchronized and integrated employment of 

military forces and other instruments of national power. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

159
Theater Support Contract 

A type of contingency contract that is awarded by contracting officers in the operational area 

serving under the direct contracting authority of the Service component, special operations force 

command, or designated joint head of contracting activity for the designated contingency 

operation. 

DoD Joint Pub 4-10 

Theater Support Contractors

Contract personnel hired in, and operating in, a specific operational area. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02

Third Party 

 

An individual or group that gets involved to help disputants resolve their problem, typically as 

mediators, arbitrators, or conciliators. Third parties can be insiders or outsiders, impartial or 

partial. Neutrality is required in some cases, but the ability to put pressure on one or both sides 

through carrots or sticks can be useful. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Threat Analysis

In antiterrorism, a continual process of compiling and examining all available information 

concerning potential terrorist activities by terrorist groups which could target a facility. A threat 

analysis will review the factors of a terrorist group’s existence, capability, intentions, history, 

and targeting, as well as the security environment within which friendly forces operate. Threat 

analysis is an essential step in identifying probability of terrorist attack and results in a threat 

assessment. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Torture

As defined by Title 18, US Code, Section 2340, it is any act committed by a person acting under 

color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other 

than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or 

physical control. “Severe mental pain or suffering” means the prolonged mental harm caused by 

or resulting from: (a) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or 

suffering; (b) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of 

mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or 

personality; (c) the threat of imminent death; or (d) the threat that another person will 

imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or 

application of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the 

senses or personality. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

160
Track Management

Defined set of procedures whereby the commander ensures accurate friendly and enemy unit 

and/or platform locations, and a dissemination procedure for filtering, combining, and passing 

that information to higher, adjacent, and subordinate commanders. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Track I Diplomacy 

Formal discussions typically involving high-level political and military leaders and focusing on 

cease-fires, peace talks, and treaties and other agreements. Third-party interveners are almost 

always official—a government or international organization, for example. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Track II Diplomacy 

Unofficial dialogue and problem-solving activities aimed at building relationships and 

encouraging new thinking that can inform the formal process. Track II activities typically 

involve influential academic, religious, and NGO leaders and other civil society actors who can 

interact more freely than high-ranking officials. The range of unofficial interveners is similarly 

broad—religious institutions, academics, former government officials, nongovernmental 

organizations, and think tanks, among others. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Track III Diplomacy 

People-to-people diplomacy undertaken by individuals and private groups to encourage 

interaction and understanding between hostile communities and involving awareness raising and 

empowerment within these communities. Normally focused at the grassroots level, this type of 

diplomacy often involves organizing meetings and conferences, generating media exposure, and 

political and legal advocacy for marginalized people and communities. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Train

1. A service force or group of service elements that provides logistic support, e.g., an 

organization of naval auxiliary ships or merchant ships or merchant ships attached to a fleet for 

this purpose; similarly, the vehicles and operating personnel that furnish supply, evacuation, and 

maintenance services to a land unit. 

2. Bombs dropped in short intervals or sequence. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Transit State 

Any State whose territory, including its airspace and/or the territorial waters, are traversed for the 

delivery of IDRA. 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section

161
Transition 

The hand-over of responsibilities between a non-United Nations led peace operation to a United 

Nations peacekeeping operation; or from the latter to other United Nations or non-United 

Nations actors upon the successful completion of its mandate. 

UN Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines 

Transitional Administration 

A transitional authority often arising from a negotiated peace process and established by the UN 

Security Council to assist a country during a government regime change or passage to 

independence. It typically consists of three segments: 1) public administration, including civilian 

police; 2) humanitarian assistance; and 3) UN Peacekeeping Force, e.g. East Timor (UNTAET) 

or Kosovo (UNMIK). 

UN-CMCoord Glossary: Civil-Military Coordination Section 

Transnational Actors 

Actors whose actions cross borders. They include intergovernmental organizations, multinational 

corporations, international nongovernmental organizations, and many religious organizations, as 

well as international terrorist networks and criminal networks. 

USIP Peace Terms

Transparency 

Connotes the conduct of public business in a manner that affords stakeholders wide accessibility 

to the decision-making process and the ability to effectively influence it. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

Transportability

The capability of material to be moved by towing, self-propulsion, or carrier via any means, such 

as railways, highways, waterways, pipelines, oceans, and airways. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Treason

Violation of the allegiance owed to one’s sovereign or state; betrayal of one’s country. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Triggering Events 

A triggering event is an event that initiates a conflict. It can be minor – a simple statement that is 

misinterpreted, or a careless mistake. Or it can be major – for instance, the assassination of 

Archduke Ferdinand was supposedly the “triggering event” that started World War I. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

162
Truth Commission 

A non-judicial, temporary, fact-finding body which focuses on bringing to light past human 

rights violations and war crimes. The Truth Commission is usually entitled to grant (partial) 

amnesty in exchange for full testimony. By bringing alleged perpetrators from all conflict parties 

together in the presence of former victims or their relatives, a healing and reconciliation process 

is assumed to become possible. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

163
U 

Uncertain Environment

Operational environment in which host government forces, whether opposed to or receptive to 

operations that a unit intends to conduct, do not have totally effective control of the territory and 

population in the intended operational area. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Unexploded Explosive Ordnance 

Explosive ordnance which has been primed, fused, armed or otherwise prepared for action, and 

which has been fired, dropped, launched, projected, or placed in such a manner as to constitute a 

hazard to operations, installations, personnel, or material and remains unexploded either by 

malfunction or design or for any other cause. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Unconventional Warfare (UW) 

A broad spectrum of military and paramilitary operations, normally of long duration, 

predominantly conducted through, with, or by indigenous or surrogate forces who are organized, 

trained, equipped, supported, and directed in varying degrees by an external source. It includes, 

but is not limited to, guerrilla warfare, subversion, sabotage, intelligence activities, and 

unconventional assisted recovery. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Underdevelopment 

An economic situation in which there are persistent low levels of living in conjunction with 

absolute poverty, low income per capita, low rates of economic growth, low consumption levels, 

poor health services, high death rates, high birthrates, dependence on foreign economies, and 

limited freedom to choose among activities that satisfy human wants. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict

Unified Action

The synchronization, coordination, and/or integration of the activities of governmental and 

nongovernmental entities with military operations to achieve unity of effort. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Unity of Effort

Coordination and cooperation toward common objectives, even if the participants are not 

necessarily part of the same command or organization – the product of successful unified action. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

164
The outcome of coordination and cooperation among all actors, even when the participants come 

from many different organizations with diverse operating cultures. 

USIP Guiding Principles 

Unstable Peace 

A situation characterized by a general level of tension and suspicion among parties. Aspects 

include diffuse political instability, uncertainty, distrust, and anomie; growing levels of 

systematic frustration; and increasing social and political cleavages along sectarian lines. 

USAID Glossary on Violent Conflict 

165
V 

Value Differences 

Value differences are differences in people's fundamental beliefs about what is good and bad, 

right and wrong. When people’s values differ significantly, the resulting conflict is often very 

hard to resolve, as people are not willing to change or compromise their fundamental values and 

beliefs. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

 

Values 

Values are the ideas we have about what is good and what is bad, and how things should be. We 

have values about family relationships (regarding, for instance, the role of the husband with 

respect to the wife), about work relationships (regarding, for instance, how employers should 

treat employees) and about other personal and relationships issues (regarding, for example, how 

children should behave towards adults, or how people should follow particular religious beliefs). 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Violence 

Psychological or physical force exerted for the purpose of threatening, injuring, damaging, or 

abusing people or property. In international relations, violent conflict typically refers to a clash 

of political interests between organized groups characterized by a sustained and large-scale use 

of force. Structural violence refers to inequalities built into the social system, for example, 

inequalities in income distribution. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something.

Oxford Dictionary 

Violent Conflict 

A clash of political interests between organized groups characterized by a sustained and largescale use of force. 

USIP Guiding Principles

Vital National Interests 

Issues of broad, overriding importance to the survival, safety, and vitality of the nation. 

Examples might include: protect the homeland; provide border security and control the flow of 

illegal aliens into the U.S.; reduce terrorism to a tolerable threshold; contain further proliferation 

of weapons of mass destruction; improve the environment; reduce national drug addiction to a 

tolerable threshold. 

Lidy and Langberg 

166
Vulnerability

1. The susceptibility of a nation or military force to any action by any means through which its 

war potential or combat effectiveness may be reduced or its will to fight diminished. 

2. The characteristics of a system that cause it to suffer a definite degradation (incapability to 

perform the designated mission) as a result of having been subjected to a certain level of effects 

in an unnatural (man-made) hostile environment. 

3. In information operations, a weakness in information system security design, procedures, 

implementation, or internal controls that could be exploited to gain unauthorized access to 

information or an information system. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

167
W 

War 

Clausewitz famously described war as the “continuation of politics by other means.” War is 

sustained fighting between conventional military forces, paramilitary forces, or guerrillas. It may 

vary from low-intensity but continuing conflict or civil anarchy to all-out “hot” war. Some 

sources say that an armed conflict must cause 1,000 or more reported battle deaths in a calendar 

year to be considered a war. Conventional war uses the arsenal of official armed forces (for 

example, small arms, bombs, missiles) but excludes the use of weapons of mass destruction. 

Limited war is war for objectives declared by those conducting it to be narrow and limited. 

USIP Peace Terms 

A state of armed conflict between different nations or states or different groups within a nation or 

state. 

Oxford Dictionary

War Crimes 

Crimes committed during armed conflict in violation of the laws of war or international 

humanitarian law, described more fully in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 

Article 8. Most war crimes are perpetrated against noncombatant and civilian populations; they 

include murder, torture, deportation, rape, the taking of hostages, and forced labor. 

USIP Peace Terms 

Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Weapons that are capable of a high order of destruction and/or of being used in such a manner as 

to destroy large numbers of people. Weapons of mass destruction can be high-yield explosives or 

nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological weapons, but exclude the means of transporting or 

propelling the weapon where such means is a separable and divisible part of the weapon. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

White Propaganda

Propaganda disseminated and acknowledged by the sponsor or by an accredited agency thereof. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Whole-of-Government Approach 

An approach that integrates the collaborative efforts of the departments and agencies of the U.S. 

government to achieve unity of effort toward a shared goal. 

U.S. Army FM 3-07

168
An approach that integrates the collaborative efforts of the departments and agencies of a 

government to achieve unity of effort toward a shared goal. Also known as interagency 

approach. The terms unity of effort and unity of purpose are sometimes used to describe 

cooperation among all actors, government and otherwise. 

USIP Peace Terms

Win-Lose Approach 

This is the approach to conflict taken by people who view the opponent as an adversary to be 

defeated. It assumes that in order to win, the opponent must lose. This is opposite to the win-win 

approach to conflict that assumes that if the disputants cooperate, a solution which provides a 

victory for all sides can be found. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Win-Lose Outcome 

A win-lose or zero-sum outcome means that one side wins only if the other side loses; it is an 

adversarial approach. 

USIP Peace Terms

Win-Win Approach 

This is the approach to conflict taken by people who want to find a solution that satisfies all the 

disputants. In win-win bargaining, the disputing parties try to cooperate to solve a joint problem 

in a way that allows both parties to “win.” This is contrasted with the win-lose (adversarial) 

approach to conflicts that assumes that all opponents are enemies and that in order to win a 

dispute, the opponent must lose. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Win-Win Outcome 

A win-win or positive-sum outcome means everyone wins, usually through cooperation and joint 

problem solving. 

USIP Peace Terms 

World View 

A world view is a person's fundamental image of the world – one’s set of core beliefs about how 

their social environment is put together. It involves one's fundamental values about what is good 

and bad; it involves beliefs about who does what and why; it involves assumptions about what 

causes events and what those events might later cause. World views are closely linked with a 

person’s sense of identity. People see themselves as part of some groups and not part of others, 

of having a particular role to play in society, and particular relationships with others. One's 

image of who one is results from one's fundamental image of the world and one's image of how 

one relates to other people in it. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

169
Working Group 

An enduring or ad hoc organization within a joint force commander’s headquarters formed 

around a specific function whose purpose is to provide analysis to users. The working group 

consists of a core functional group and other staff and component representatives. 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

Wounded in Action (WIA) 

A casualty category applicable to a hostile casualty, other than the victim of a terrorist activity, 

who has incurred an injury due to an external agent or cause. The term encompasses all kinds of 

wounds and other injuries incurred in action, whether there is a piercing of the body, as in a 

penetration or perforated wound, or none, as in the contused wound. These include fractures, 

burns, blast concussions, all effects of biological and chemical warfare agents, and the effects of 

an exposure to ionizing radiation or any other destructive weapon or agent. The hostile casualty’s 

status may be categorized as “very seriously ill or injured,” “seriously ill or injured,” 

“incapacitating illness or injury,” or “not seriously injured.” 

DoD Joint Pub 1-02 

170
XYZ 

Zero-Sum Situations 

Zero-sum situations are situations in which the only way one side can get ahead (or get more of 

something) is if the other side gets less. This occurs when there is a finite amount of a resource to 

be distributed, and together the parties want more than is available. In this situation, no side can 

get what they want unless the other side gets less than they want. This is also referred to as winlose situations. 

U of C: International Online Training Program Glossary 

Zone of Action

A tactical subdivision of a larger area, the responsibility of which is assigned to a tactical unit; 

generally applied to offensive reaction. 

NATO AAP-6 

171
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

172
Acronyms and Abbreviations 

3-D Defense, Diplomacy, Development 

A-100 Orientation training program for new Foreign Service Officers of the Department of State 

AA Assessment Agent

AAFSW Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide 

ABN Airborne 

AC Bureau of Arms Control 

A&D Accounting and Disbursing System – overseas financial management system 

ACDA Arms Control and Disarmament Agency 

ACS American Citizens Services 

ADCON Administrative Control 

ADM/ADMIN Administrative Section overseas (includes HRO, FMO, GSO, IMO, IPC, MED) 

ADST Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training 

AF Bureau of African Affairs, Department of State 

AFGE American Federation of Government Employees 

AFM American Family Member 

AFRICOM (United States) Africa Command

AFSA American Foreign Service Association 

AFSPA American Foreign Service Protective Association Health Plan 

AGR Agricultural Section overseas 

ALDAC All Diplomatic and Consular Posts 

AMADS Automated Message Distribution System – Department of State message processing 

system 

173
AMB E&P Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary – representing a head of state and 

with full powers 

AMCIT See Consul 

A/OS Office of Overseas Schools, Department of State 

APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum 

APHIS Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture 

APO Army Post Office 

AO Area of Operations

AOI Area of Interest

AOL Area of Limitation

AOR Area of Responsibility 

AOS Area of Separation 

ASOS Advanced Security Overseas Seminar 

AT Antiterroism 

AV Asset Visibility 

AWAL Around the World in a Lifetime – a Foreign Service teen organization 

B&F Budget and Fiscal Section in some overseas missions – newer name is Financial 

Management Office (FMO) 

BCC Beltsville Communications Center 

BDA Battle Damage Assessment

BIMC Beltsville Information Management Center. 

Biodata Biographic Data 

BPP Bureau Performance Plan – budget planning tool for bureaus 

Branch Post Post outside the capital city, also called constituent post 

174
BZ Buffer Zone 

C2 Command and Control

CA Bureau of Consular Affairs, Department of State

CA Civil Administration 

CA Civil Affairs, Department of Defense 

CAO Cultural Affairs Officer in Public Diplomacy section of Embassy 

CAS Close Air Support 

CBNR Chemical, Biological, Nuclear, Radiological Weapons of Mass Destruction 

CBT Combating Terrorism 

CCO Complex Contingency Operations 

CCO Center for Complex Operations, National Defense University 

CD Counterdrug

CDA/CDO Career Development and Assignments/Career Development Officer 

CENTCOM (United States) Central Command 

CERF Central Emergency Response Fund 

CFMS Central Financial Management System 

CFC Combined Federal Campaign 

CG Consul General 

CI Counterintelligence 

CIA Central Intelligence Agency 

CIO Chief Information Officer 

CLO Community Liaison Office 

CM Consequence Management 

175
CME Crisis Management Exercise 

CIMIC Civil-Military Cooperation 

CML Civil-Military Liaison 

CMO Civil-Military Operations 

CMOC Civil-Military Operations Center

CNO Chief of Naval Operations

CNO Computer Network Operations 

COA Course of Action 

CODEL Congressional Delegation 

COG Center of Gravity 

COIN Counterinsurgency

COM Chief of Mission 

COMINT Communications Intelligence

COMPUSEC Computer Security – government term for data security 

COMSEC Communications Security – policy/procedures to protect communications 

CON Consular Section overseas 

CONGEN Consulate-General 

CONOFF Consular Officer 

CONUS Continental United States 

COOP Continuity of Operations

COSPO Community Open Source Project Office – intelligence community system manager 

CPO Commications Program Officer 

CrM Crisis Management 

176
CS Civil Service 

CS Civil Support 

CS Combat Support

CSAR Combat Search and Rescue 

CT Counterterrorism 

CW Chemical Warfare 

DA Direct Action

DACOR Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired. 

DART Disaster Assistance Response Team 

DAS Deputy Assistant Secretary, Department of State, Department of Defense, etc. 

DC Dislocated Civilian 

DDR Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration

DCM Deputy Chief of Mission 

D&CP Diplomatic and Consular Programs (1019) – Department of State funding source 

DEA Drug Enforcement Administration 

DFID (U.K.) Department for International Development 

DG Director General of the Foreign Service 

DIA Defense Intelligence Agency 

DISA Defense Information Systems Agency 

DOD Department of Defense 

DOE Department of Energy 

DOJ Department of Justice 

DOS Department of State 

177
DOSNET Department of State email network 

DPM Diplomatic Pouch and Mail 

DPO Deputy Principal Officer – generic term for the number two at a Foreign Service post, 

whether Embassy or Consulate 

DRL Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Department of State 

DS Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Department of State 

DS Direct Support 

DUSTWUN Duty Status - Whereabouts Unknown 

DSTC Diplomatic Security Training Center 

EA Electronic Attack

EAP Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State 

EAC An embassy's Emergency Action Committee (see CME) 

EB Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, Department of State 

EBO Effects-Based Operations 

EC Enemy Combatant

ECA Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Deparment of State 

ECON Economic Section overseas 

ECOSOC Economic and Social Council, United Nations 

ECS Employee Consultation Service 

E&E Emergency & Evacuation – used in security planning 

EFM Eligible family member 

EH Explosive Hazard 

EOD Explosive Ordnance Disposal 

E.O. Executive Order 

178
EP Electronic Protection 

ERC Emergency Relief Coordinator 

ERS Electronic Receipt System – part of the Diplomatic Pouch & Mail system 

ES Electronic Warfare Support 

ETA Estimated Time of Arrival 

ETD Estimated Time of Departure 

EU European Union 

EUCOM (United States) European Command

EUR Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs, Department of State 

EVT Emergency Visitation Travel 

EW Electronic Warfare

EX Executive Office 

FAC Foreign Affairs Community 

FAH Foreign Affairs Handbook 

FAM Foreign Affairs Manual – the general (and authoritative) guide, in many volumes, for 

Foreign Service procedures 

FARA Foreign Affairs Recreation Association 

FAS Foreign Agricultural Service, Department of Agriculture 

FASA Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act – USG procurement guidelines 

FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation 

FBO Forward Operating Base 

FCC Federal Communications Commission 

FCO Federal Coordinating Officer 

179
FCS Foreign Commercial Service, Department of Commerce – provides Commercial Attaches 

to missions abroad 

FHA Foreign Humanitarian Assistance 

FID Foreign Internal Defense

FLO Family Liaison Office, Department of State 

FMA Family Member Appointment – Department of State hiring mechanism 

FMC Financial Management Center – budget and fiscal offices at 19 large embassies 

FMLA Family and Medical Leave Act 

FMO Financial Management Office – unit of administrative section in Department of State post 

overseas; formerly B&F 

FMP Bureau of Finance and Management Policy, Department of State 

FNS Foreign Nation Support 

FOB Forward Operating Base 

FOIA Freedom of Information Act 

FP Force Protection

FPO Fleet (Navy) Post Office 

FSAN Foreign Service Assignment Notebook – published by the FSI Transition Center 

FSC Financial Service Center – three financial centers supporting FS posts 

FSI Foreign Service Institute, Department of State 

FSN Foreign Service National – a non-American employed by a Foreign Service Post abroad, 

usually from the host country; important as staff members in every section 

FSO Foreign Service Officer 

FSPS Foreign Service Pension System 

FSRDS Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System 

FSYF Foreign Service Youth Foundation 

180
FTE Full Time Equivalent 

FY Fiscal Year 

GAO General Accounting Office 

GBL Government Bill of Lading 

GCP Geospatial-Intelligence Contingency Package 

GLS Geographic Learning Site 

GPO Government Printing Office 

GS General Schedule – designation for Civil Service jobs 

GSA General Services Administration – USG agency providing goods and services 

GSO General Services Officer in an overseas mission 

GTR Government Travel Request 

GW Guerilla Warfare 

GWACs Government-Wide Agency Contracts – procurement vehicle any agency can use 

HCA Humanitarian and Civic Assistance 

HCO Humanitarian Operations Center 

HCN Host country national 

HHE Household Effects 

HL Home Leave 

HN Host Nation 

HNS Host Nation Support 

HOC Humanitarian Operations Center 

HPT High-Payoff Target

HR Bureau of Human Resources, Department of State. 

181
HRO Human Resources Officer – formerly Personnel Officer 

HRP High-Risk Personnel 

HS Homeland Security

HSTA Home Service Transfer Allowance 

HTS Human Terrain System 

HUMINT Human Intelligence 

HUMINT Human Resources Intelligence 

HVT High-Value Target 

IASC Inter-Agency Standing Committee – mechanism for inter-agency coordination of 

humanitarian assistance 

IAWG Interagency Working Group

IC Intelligence Community 

ICASS International Cooperative Administrative Support Service 

ID Identification 

IDAD Internal Defense and Development 

IDP Internally Displaced Person 

IDRA International Disaster Relief Assistance 

IED Improvised Explosive Device 

IG Inspector General, Department of State 

IGO Intergovernmental Organization

IM Information Management 

IMO/IPO Information Management/Programs/Office of administrative section that handles 

computer systems and communications (classified and unclassified) 

IMS Information Management Specialist 

182
IMTS Information Management Technical Specialist 

INL Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, Department of State 

INR Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State 

INRISS INR Intelligence Support System 

INS Immigration and Naturalization Service 

INTELINK Intelligence Community Network – IC classified data network 

IO Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Department of State 

IO Information Operations 

IPC Information Program Center – post computer processing area 

IRM Bureau of Information Resource Management, Department of State 

ISAF International Security Assistance Force 

IW Irregular Warfare 

IWAG Interagency Working Group 

JCET Joint Combined Exchange Training 

JCMOTF Joint Civil-Military Operations Task Force 

JCS Joint Chiefs of Staff 

JFC Joint Force Commander 

JFC Joint Functional Concept 

JFCOM (United States) Joint Forces Command 

JIACG Joint Interagency Coordination Group 

JLOC Joint Logistics Operations Centre 

JMAC Joint Mission Analysis Centre 

JMET Joint Mission-Essential Task 

183
JOA Joint Operations Area 

JOC Joint Operations Center 

JP Joint Publication 

JS Joint Staff 

JSOA Joint Special Operations Area 

JUSMAAG/MAAG Joint U.S. Military Assistance and Advisory Mission/Military Assistance 

Advisory Mission

KIA Killed in Action

KSA Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities 

LGF Local Guard Force – diplomatic post security group 

LM Office of Logistics Management 

LMR Land Mobile Radio – radio used by post security groups 

LMS School of Leadership and Management, Foreign Service Institute 

LOA Letter of Assist 

LOO Lines of Operation 

LWOP Leave Without Pay 

M Office of the Undersecretary for Management, Department of State 

MAAG Military Assistance Advisory Group 

MACA Military Assistance to Civil Authorities 

Main State Department of State offices located in Washignton, DC 

MAP Military Assistance Program 

MEA Munitions Effectiveness Assessment 

MED Office of Medical Services 

184
MEMCON Memorandum of Conversation recounting the details of an official conversation 

with a foreign contact or official, traditionally sent by pouch (although most cable reports of calls 

and meetings are also MEMCONS) 

MFA Minister and/or Ministry of Foreign Affairs 

MIA Missing in Action/Missing 

MILDEC Military Deception 

MNF Multinational Force 

MOB Mobilization 

MOP Measure of Performance 

MED Medical Services, Department of State 

MOH Member of Household – an individual who falls outside the Department's legal and 

statutory definition of family member 

MPP Mission Performance Plan – budget planning tool for missions 

NAS Narcotics Affairs Section – embassy anti-drug section 

NAI Named Area of Interest 

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization 

NDS National Defense Strategy 

NEA Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Department of State 

NEOs Noncombatant Evacuation Operations

NGO Non-Governmental Organization 

NHCS Non-hostile Casualty 

NIE National Intelligence Estimate

NIV Non-Immigrant Visa 

NMS National Military Strategy 

NORTHCOM (United States) Northern Command

185
NSA National Security Agency 

NSC National Security Council 

NSS National Security Strategy 

OA Operational Area

OB Order of Battle 

OBC Overseas Briefing Center, Foreign Service Institute 

OBO Overseas Buildings Operations (formerly FBO) 

OCHA Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations 

OCS Overseas Citizens Service 

OECD Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development 

OES Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Department of 

State 

OGA Other Government Agency 

OIG Office of the Inspector General, Department of State 

OMB Office of Management and Budget 

OMS Office Management Specialist (formerly Foreign Service secretary) 

OOB Order of Battle 

OP3 Overt Peacetime Psychological Operations Programs

OpenNet Online resources available only on the Department of State intranet 

OPSEC Operations Security 

OPLAN Operations Plan

ORE Official Residence Expense – a special account for funding official expenses of the 

Ambassador's (Chief of Mission) residence 

OSAC Overseas Schools Advisory Council 

186
OSAC Overseas Security Advisory Council 

OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe 

PACOM (United States) Pacific Command 

PA Public Affairs 

PAO Public Affairs Officer 

PAR Participatory Action Research 

PAR Population at Risk 

PB Peacebuilding

PC Peace Corps 

PC Rep Peace Corps Representative 

PCV Peace Corps Volunteer 

PDD Presidential Decision Directive 

PERMREP See COM 

PIT Part-time/Intermittent/Temporary employee – formerly applied to most dependent 

employment slots and is now obsolete (per Department directive) 

PK Peace Keeping or Peacekeeping 

PL 480 Public Law 480 dealing with the overseas sale of surplus agricultural products 

PM Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Department of State 

PMFs Private Military Firms 

PMP Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness 

PN Partner Nation 

PNG Persona Non Grata 

PO Peace Operations or Peacekeeping Operation 

POL Political Section overseas 

187
POLCONS See Counselor 

POTUS President of the United States 

POV Privately Owned Vehicle 

POW Prisoner of War 

PRM Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Department of State 

PRT Provincial Reconstruction Team 

PSC Personal Services Contract 

PSO Post Security Officer 

PSYOP Psychological Operations 

PUA Participatory Urban Appraisal 

PW Prisoner of War 

QRF Quick Response Force

R&R Rest and recuperation leave 

RCA Riot Control Agent 

RCSO Regional Computer Security Officer 

RECON Reconnaissance 

REFTEL Reference Telegram 

RFE/RL Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty 

RFSC Regional Financial Service Center 

RM Risk Management 

RMO Regional Medical Officer 

ROE Rules of Engagement

RPSO Regional Procurement Service Office – overseas logistics support center 

188
RSO Regional Security Officer – reports directly to the Deputy Chief of Mission 

RUF Revolutionary United Front 

RUF Rules for the Use of Force 

S&E Salary & Expenses 

SA Security Assistance

SAIT School of Applied Information Technology at the Foreign Service Institute 

SAR Search and Rescue 

S/CPR Chief of Protocol 

SEA Subsistence Expense Allowance 

SEP Special Embassy Program 

SERE Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape

SFS Senior Foreign Service 

SLS School of Language Studies, Foreign Service Institute 

SMA Separate Maintenance Allowance 

SN Strategic National 

SO Special Operations 

SO Strategic Objective 

SOCOM (United States) Special Operations Command 

SOF Special Operations Forces 

SOFA Status-of-Forces Agree

SOP Standard Operating Procedure 

SOS Security Overseas Seminar 

SOUTHCOM (United States) Southern Command 

189
S/P Policy Planning Staff 

SPAS School of Professional and Area Studies, Foreign Service Institute 

SR Standardized Regulations 

S/S Executive Secretariat 

SSR Security Sector Reform

ST Strategic-Theater 

STAFFDEL See CODEL 

STRARTCOM (United States) Strategic Command 

TCN Third Country National – a citizen of a country other than the United States or the host 

country 

TDY Temporary Duty 

TF Task Force

TM Travel Message 

TQSA Temporary Quarters Subsistence Allowance 

TRANCOM (United States) Transportation Command 

TSCP Theater Security Cooperation Plan 

TSP Thrift Savings Plan 

UAB Unaccompanied Air Baggage 

UCP Unified Command Plan 

UNCT United Nations Country Team 

UNESCO United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization 

USAID United States Agency for International Development 

USDA United States Department of Agriculture 

USG United States Government 

190
USEU U.S. Mission to the European Union 

USIA United States Information Agency – former foreign affairs agency incorporated into the 

Department of State in 1999 

USNATO U.S. Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization 

USO Unit Security Officer 

USTR U.S. Trade Representative's office 

USUN United States Mission to the United Nations 

UW Unconventional Warfare 

UXO Unexploded Explosive Ordnance 

VIP Very Important Person 

WAE When Actually Employed – generally a retiree who returns to work for short periods 

WG Working Group

WHA Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Department of State (formerly ARA) 

WHO World Health Organization, United Nations 

WIA Wounded in Action 

WMD Weapons of Mass Destruction 

WTO World Trade Organization 

191
Sources 

192
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The United States Congress authorized the creation of a Center for Complex Operations in the 

FY 2009 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Center for Complex Operations 

(CCO) was initially formed in the summer of 2008 in the Office of the Secretary of Defense 

(Policy) and moved in early 2009 to the National Defense University. The missions of CCO, as 

directed by Congress, are to: 1) provide for effective coordination in the preparation of DoD and 

other United States Government personnel for complex operations.; 2) foster unity of effort 

among the departments and agencies of the USG, foreign governments and militaries, 

international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations; 3) conduct research; collect, 

analyze, and distribute lessons learned; and compile best practices in matters relating to complex 

operations; and 4) identify gaps in the training and education of military and civilian 

governmental personnel relating to complex operations, and facilitate efforts to fill such gaps. 

To accomplish this mission, the Center for Complex Operations carries out the following tasks: 

 Conducts research and analysis of complex operations related to whole of government and 

comprehensive civil-military approaches at the strategic and operational levels. 

 Connects and networks the complex operations community of practice and cultivates 

foundations of trust and habits of collaboration across the US Government. 

 Serves as the recognized US government hub for complex operations information, 

knowledge, and lessons learned. 

 Serves as the primary institution within the US government for the assessment of interagency 

complex operations training and education. 

 Disseminates research, policy analysis, lessons learned, and other materials related to 

complex operations through publications and web-based information systems. 

As part of its mission, CCO operates a website (ccoportal.org) that provides the latest 

information on current and past complex operations, posts articles and research related to 

complex operations, maintains a list of references relating to complex operations, offers a blog 

site for practitioners to exchange ideas, lists complex operations-related training and 

development courses and programs, and provides the latest lesson learned. Users of this lexicon 

are encouraged to visit the CCO website. 

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