I-Power: The Information Revolution and Stability Operations (2007)

Overview Information and information technology (I/IT) can significantly increase the likelihood of success in stability operations--if they are engaged as part of an overall strategy that coordinates the actions of outside intervenors and focuses on generating effective results for the host nation. Properly utilized, I/IT can help create a knowledgeable intervention, organize complex activities, and integrate stability with the host nation, making stability more effective. Key to these results is a strategy that requires that 1) the U.S. Government gives high priority to such an approach and ensures that the effort is a joint civilian-military activity; 2) the military makes I/IT part of the planning and execution of the stability operation; 3) preplanning and the establishment of I/IT partnerships are undertaken with key regular participants in stability operations, such as the United Nations and the World Bank; 4) the focus of the intervention, including the use of I/IT, is on the host nation, supporting host-nation governmental, societal, and economic development; and 5) key information technology capabilities are harnessed to support the strategy. Implementing the strategy will include 1) development of an information business plan for the host nation so that I/IT is effectively used to support stabilization and reconstruction; 2) agreements among intervenors on data-sharing and collaboration, including data-sharing on a differentiated basis; and 3) use of commercial IT tools and data provided on an unclassified basis. Over the past 30 years, the information revolution has had an important impact on the conduct of military operations. In the United States, it has produced what is often called netcentric or netcentric operations (1)--the combination of shared communications, key data, analytic capabilities, and people schooled in using those capacities--that has enabled enhanced joint activities, integrated distributed capabilities, much greater speed, and more effective maneuver. The result has been that the United States and its allies have been able to conduct very effective combat under a range of conditions, including quick insertion (Panama), maneuver warfare (major combat in Iraq), an all-air campaign (Kosovo), and a Special Forces-led effort (Afghanistan). At the same time that major combat have proceeded so successfully, the United States and its allies have undertaken a variety of stability in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor, several African countries, Afghanistan, and Iraq. (2) These stability generally have included both economic and governance reconstruction and have spanned the full security gamut from nonviolent peacekeeping to full-blown counterinsurgency. Not one of these has approached the success achieved in combat undertaken in the same period. This paper analyzes whether a strategic use of information and information technology (I/IT) in stability could lead to more successful operations. Certainly, the information revolution has been a dynamic and positive factor in business, government, and social arenas in the Western world. The combination of technology, information content, and people schooled in the use of each has reshaped enterprises and activities of all types. This paper concludes that utilizing the elements of the information revolution in a strategic approach to stability would have positive results and sets forth the strategic and operational parameters of such an effort. Problems of Stability Operations Utilizing the fruits of the information revolution for effective stability requires a prior understanding of what makes a stability operation effective. As noted above, stability have security, economic, and governance reconstruction elements. Yet while it is widely recognized that stability go far beyond purely military actions--encompassing security, humanitarian, economic, and governance/ rule of law issues--no one has set forth an actual strategic or operational doctrine that promises success in stability operations. …