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RESEARCH PROGRAMS

Multinational Interagency and Joint Concept Development and Experimentation

U.S.-CREST has been providing intellectual contributions and support to Multinational Experiment Five (MNE 5) community since 2006, in the context of specific activities described here, as well as in the context of the CSO Project (Coalition Stability Operations) described below. Dominique Orsini and Anne Kovacs have participated in a number of MNE 5 planning conferences, workshops and Limited Objective Experiments in the run-up the experiment major integrating events. Among the many MNE 5 focus areas, they have thus far been involved primarily in activities relating to the development of a multinational, interagency strategic planning process, in support of the French joint concepts, doctrines and experimentations center (Centre interarmées de concepts, doctrines et expérimentations or CICDE), as well as implementation planning and assessment, known respectively as Multinational Interagency Strategic Planning (MNISP), Cooperative Implementation Planning (CIP) and Cooperative Implementation Management and Evaluation (CIME). U.S.-CREST provides analysis to the CICDE and will also contribute to the overall MNE 5 analysis coordinated by U.S. Joint Forces Command Joint Innovation and Experimentation directorate.

More information about MNE 5 is available on the U.S. Joint Forces Command website.

Transition between stabilization and reconstruction in a theater of operations

This study was led by U.S.-CREST, in partnership with the Fondation pour la recherche stratégique and DCI/Stratco. It aims to contribute to joint and interagency conceptual thinking regarding how to better prepare, plan for and implement activities so as to enable effective transitions towards normalization. The study is comprised of two parts. The first part of the study discusses past experiences and current thinking in various countries and organizations – France, the United States, the United Kingdom as well as within the European Union, NATO and the United Nations. Its purpose is to understand how the challenges of stabilization and of the transition of responsibilities are currently taken into account by France’s main partners. The second part builds on an evaluation of these approaches and offers conceptual recommendations more particularly tailored for France.

Exploratory guide for interagency strategic planning

This guide was developed under the leadership of the Fondation pour la recherche stratégique, with significant contributions from U.S.-CREST and DCI/Stratco, as part of a partnership between the three organizations. Conceived as a methodological instrument to help cope with complex international crises, the guide aims to strengthen interagency dialogue by encouraging the development of a shared vision of the situation at hand as well as of potential solutions, and thus to enable the conception of a national position towards the crisis situation and best way to resolve it. The methodology proposed in the guide was briefed to a French interagency audience in April 2007.

Colloquium: Getting organized for the sake of peace: the interagency management of international crises

The colloquium “Getting organized for the sake of peace: the interagency management of international crises”, organized by the Fondation pour la recherche stratégique, with the contribution of U.S.-CREST and DCI/Stratco, took place February 7, 2007 at the Maison de la Chimie in Paris. It consisted of four panels. The first dealt with lessons learned from recent operations. The second looked at interagency issues within a multilateral and multinational context. Dominique Orsini and Anne Kovacs both participated in this panel, respectively as moderator and panelist. The third panel focused on initiatives undertaken by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Agence française de développement, regarding crisis management and reconstruction. The last panel was dedicated to discussing the Ministry of Defense’s initiatives for more comprehensive crisis management.

Relations between the United States and the European Union

This study, which began in winter 2005 and was completed in 2007, dealt with four different aspects of U.S.-EU relations. The first topic looked at relations with regard to combating terrorism; the second theme, entitled “defense aspects”, analyzed NATO-ESDP relations and the perspectives for improved cooperation between the U.S. and the EU relative to conflict prevention and civil-military crisis management; the third theme, on the perspectives of European defense, paid particular attention to the viewpoints of new member States and to American reactions; finally, the last topic attempted to assess if and how the creation of Africa Command could facilitate cooperation between the U.S. and the EU in Africa. Overall, the study sought to understand points of tension and/or disagreement and to emphasize the possibilities for increased convergence in order to encourage greater transatlantic cooperation.

Link to executive summary

Coalition Stability Operations (CSO)

The purpose of the Coalition Stability Operations (CSO) Project, sponsored by the U.S.-Joint Forces Command Joint Innovation and Experimentation directorate (JIE) was to address a number of challenges related to multinational civil and military action, to raise awareness of differences in national or multilateral approaches and to explore ways of achieving more coherence of action in coalition settings. It resulted in recommendations that are applicable to multinational experimentations and that can be of direct use in operational theaters as well as in capitals.

During its December 2006 meeting, the Phase II Working Group focused on conflict prevention, using a comprehensive approach, on the role of the military within that approach, and on the civil-military processes and structures needed for an effective shaping of the operational environment to that end. While this report is believed to accurately reflect working group deliberations, the U.S.-CREST team bears the entire responsibility for its content.

View a copy of the December meeting report, published February 2007

Multinational Experiment 4 (MNE 4)

U.S.-CREST, represented by Dominique Orsini, Christian Delanghe and Anne Kovacs, provided analysis and support to the French Joint Staff and Centre for concepts, doctrines and experimentations (CICDE) for MNE4 between October 2005 and June 2007. They participated in a number of workshops and Limited Objective Experiments as well as in the final integrating MNE 4 experiment itself. More specifically, they focused on the effects-based approach to planning, execution and assessment, on the strategic context and strategic-level planning processes, and on multinational, interagency coordination. U.S.-CREST also contributed to the overall analysis coordinated by Joint Forces Command/J9.

Additional information about MNE4 is available on the U.S. Joint Forces Command website

Network-Centric Operations

U.S.-CREST conducted a two-part study on network-centric operations from 2003 to 2005, sponsored by the French Ministry of Defense. The study sought to underline recent evolutions in terms of net-centricity in the United States and several European countries (the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden) and explored their implications for the multinational operations. The study first provides an overview of the conceptual developments of “net-centric operations”, stemming from the U.S. Navy’s concept of Network Centric Warfare, both in the U.S. and among partner nations. It then looks more closely at the main evolutions outside of the U.S., namely at the British Network Enabled Capability, Germany’s defense transformation, as well as Swedish and Australian perspectives on the new operational approaches offered by networked capabilities. The third part of the study focuses on a detailed look of recent evolutions in the U.S: in addition to discussing the strategic context for these evolutions, it describes achievements relative to networked operations within DOD and in a joint environment, while a separate section is dedicated to the DOD’s efforts to normalize the interconnection of classified networks with those of its coalition partners. Finally, the report deals with the characteristics to be expected of network centric operations, discusses the implications for multinational operations and underlines the importance of joint concept development and experimentation in the evolution of networked approaches. The study concludes that there is currently a window of opportunity for Europe to harmonize the necessary evolutions in the field of networked operations among the main defense actors.

U.S. Interagency Coordination

The purpose of this study was to explain how interagency coordination functions within the U.S. government and why the issue has gained such importance over the years. The study also discusses the most recent initiatives to improve coordination and analyzes the implications of the emphasis on interagency coordination for America’s allies and partners.

The study describes a number of U.S. government departments and agencies, and explains the structure and organization of the NSC system. It then focuses on the evolution of interagency coordination during the Clinton administration as a result of the U.S.’s engagement in “complex contingency operations” and the efforts that were progressively made to codify mostly ad hoc solutions. The most significant part of the study deals with the changes that have come about since 9/11, namely the increased interagency coordination required to better protect the homeland, combat terrorism and stabilize post-conflict states. Finally, U.S.-CREST discusses the implications of this increased interest in interagency coordination for the U.S.’s multinational partners, in particular in the event of a U.S.-led coalition operation. The study was finished in early 2005 and also helped prepare the interagency aspects of MNE4.

Building a comprehensive plan for an ad hoc coalition, enabling crisis resolution and a viable exit strategy for multinational partners

This study, completed in 2004, drew from lessons from past operations to identify the elements relevant to the development of a coherent political-military plan and to deduct from them an approach to generic planning for coalition operations. The first part of the study was dedicated to the analysis of crises whose exit and conflict termination strategies were chosen either for their successes or for their failures: the examples of Suez, Somalia or Kosovo illustrated the difficulty and reality of the problem. The analyses were undertaken from a national perspective, and took into account the international context in which the events unfolded, as well as the interactions between actors (namely the European Union, the United Nations and NATO) with regards to the support and legitimacy they can bring. In the second part of the study, U.S.-CREST developed a guide for establishing a comprehensive political-military plan that takes into account conflict termination from the start.

Future Military Coalitions: The Transatlantic Challenge; Implications of a Common European Security and Defense Policy (CESDP) on future transatlantic military capabilities

This project builds on the recently completed quadripartite (France, Germany, the U.K. the U.S.) study of coalition military operations. It convened a political/military working group of experts and officials from the United States and Europe to explore through examination of potential future crisis scenarios how CESDP could affect the force composition, military capabilities, system developments, conduct and potential success of transatlantic versus Europe-only operations. An important aspect of the project is the identification of equipment capability gaps, and the examination of the multinational and national processes and apparatus for rectifying these. Taking the NATO Defense Capabilities Initiative (DCI) and the EU’s inventory of capabilities as starting points, the project helps establish a focused set of equipment capability priorities for the next fifteen years.

View the final CESDP project report, published September 2002

Quadripartite Working Group on Coalition Military Operations

In 2000, U.S.-CREST completed a quadripartite project on coalition military operations. Recognizing the challenges as well as opportunities that the incorporation of rapidly moving information technologies into military systems present for coalition operations, U.S.-CREST solicited the participation of FRS (France), SWP (Germany), and RUSI (UK) in a study designed to examine how their countries can better cooperate to harness information technologies and enhance coalition cohesiveness. U.S. DoD, and the defense ministries in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, all agreed to participate in the study in an advisory capacity. In April 2000, the project findings and recommendations were briefed to the biannual five power meeting of National Armament Directors.

View the Final CMO Report

The Tocqueville Connection

The French-American Dialogue program was significantly enhanced in January 1996 with the creation of The Tocqueville Connection. The Tocqueville Connection was initially a weekly internet magazine featuring news about France in an English-language format, covering major topics such as defense, foreign policy, and politics and society. Following development by our experts of a dedicated, proprietary software suite, The Tocqueville Connection is now continually and automatically updated from a French wire service with news selected and prioritized according to their relevance to an American public.