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Civil-Military Relations

RAND research on civil-military relations includes studies of how a military employs civilian contractors, how military bases interact with their neighbors, and how a nation's military affects its politics—and vice versa.

Commentary
Egyptian Liberals, Please Stand Up
While Egypt really is in trouble, what is needed is not a U.S. signal in the form of an aid cut off or another European mediation effort, it is for Egyptian liberals to stand up and condition their participation in government on genuine national reconciliation.
Aug 1, 2013
Commentary
The Enduring Mirage of the Arab Spring
U.S. policy should not be hamstrung by a narrow focus on democratization, writes Seth G. Jones. More than ever, the United States and its allies should think first about protecting their vital strategic interests in Egypt and the region.
Jul 22, 2013
Commentary
The Biggest Loser of Cairo's Coup: Turkey
The military coup deposing Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, has sparked an important shift in the regional balance of power in the Middle East. Morsi's ouster deals a strong blow to the Turkey-Qatar-Egypt “pro-change” axis and to Turkey's hopes of playing a larger role in the region.
Jul 19, 2013
Blog
In Egypt, Polarization Stands in the Way of Stability
The establishment of a stable government in Egypt is an elusive goal that depends on finding ways to reduce seemingly intractable levels of political polarization, says Jeffrey Martini. There is little cause for optimism that polarization will diminish any time soon.
Jul 18, 2013
Commentary
Halting Aid to Egypt Over Military 'Coup' Would Hurt US Interests
Critics advocate for acknowledging that what occurred in Egypt is a coup and shutting off the more than $1.5 billion that Egypt receives annually from the US government. But this position fails to appreciate the limits of the leverage Washington derives from its aid to Cairo and the potential consequences of halting it.
Jul 11, 2013
Commentary
The Egyptian Military's Playbook
The Egyptian military, still bruised from its last stint in power, is likely to proceed with caution this time around. If it does intervene, it will likely seek some acquiescence from the Islamists and will want to quickly form an inclusive caretaker government.
Jul 2, 2013
Journal Article
Talk Like a Marine: USMC Linguistic Acculturation and Civil–military Argument
This study examines the relationship between US Marine discourse and civil–military public argument.
Jan 1, 2013
Commentary
Why Civilian Military Secretaries Are No Longer Needed
Civilian oversight of support functions — the whole of the service secretary’s task — is currently done or repeated by existing elements in the offices of the undersecretaries of defense, writes former secretary of defense Harold Brown.
Oct 19, 2012
Report
Bridging the Gap: Prototype Tools to Support Local Disaster Preparedness Planning and Collaboration
RAND researchers developed an initial prototype tool to help determine capabilities and resources a locality will likely require during a disaster. The report also describes two social networking tools for local coordination of disaster preparedness.
Oct 12, 2012
Commentary
The Next War
To prepare for the interventions to come in the next decade, the United States must adapt the lessons from its experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan and use them to generate a new, more realistic, and feasible doctrine, write Radha Iyengar and Douglas A. Ollivant.
May 7, 2012
Report
New Counterinsurgency Assessment Methods Are Needed to Better Inform Policymakers
The U.S. Department of Defense will receive more detailed, transparent, and credible assessments of its counterinsurgency campaigns by replacing its top-down approach with a bottom-up method driven by contextual, narrative reporting provided by commanders on the ground.
Apr 13, 2012
Research Brief
Improving Counterinsurgency Campaign Assessment: The Importance of Transparency in the Fog of War
Current processes used by the U.S. military do not provide accurate assessments of counterinsurgency campaigns. A new process that adds transparency and context to assessments would make them more credible and useful at all levels of decisionmaking.
Apr 13, 2012
Commentary
Should the U.S. Leave Afghanistan Now? History Favors More Time
The Afghans will have better prospects for defeating their insurgency with continued improvement, of course, and the United States can contribute to that improvement while American forces remain, writes Christopher Paul.
Apr 3, 2012
Commentary
Bringing Libya Under Control
While NATO countries and allies like Jordan and Qatar have started to train and equip the security forces, there is more that outsiders can do to help, writes Frederic Wehrey.
Feb 25, 2012
Report
Characterizing and Exploring the Implications of Maritime Irregular Warfare
Although irregular warfare includes a range of activities in which naval forces have played an integral role, there has been little examination of the characteristics or potential of such operations in maritime environments. Current notions of irregular warfare would benefit from increased recognition of potential maritime contributions.
Feb 20, 2012
Report
Considerations for the Civilian Expeditionary Workforce: Preparing to Operate Amidst Private Security Contractors
The U.S. Department of Defense Civilian Expeditionary Workforce (CEW) is deployed to support theater operations. This paper builds on prior RAND research to examine how private security contractors may interact with and affect CEW operations.
Feb 14, 2012
Commentary
U.S. Control of Contractors in Iraq Is Vital
With U.S. troops out of Iraq, the U.S. presence there will fall to 5,000 private security contractors....The experience with private security contractors during the war was fraught with challenges that pose risks now, writes Molly Dunigan.
Jan 31, 2012
Report
Coalition Forces During Stability Operations: Band of Brothers or Dysfunctional Family?
As challenging as coalition warfare is during conventional conflicts, the difficulties are compounded in number and character when the contingency is instead a stability operation. The absence of a threat that puts survival interests at risk translates into weaker commitment and more-restrictive caveats on how a participant's capabilities are employed.
Nov 21, 2011
Commentary
Iran's Growing State of Civil Disobedience
A typical Iranian has many reasons to disobey the government, whether he or she is young, an ethnic minority, a poor teacher or laborer, or a struggling student, writes Alireza Nader.
Sep 8, 2011
Commentary
Commanding Democracy in Egypt: The Military's Attempt to Manage the Future
The SCAF's attempts to curtail dissent and the democratic process have fueled doubts about its true intentions. Will the military fulfill its promise to support democracy? Or will it seek to replace Mubarak's rule with its own or that of a friendly autocrat? write Jeffrey Martini and Julie Taylor.
Aug 25, 2011

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RAND Topic:
Civil-Military Relations

Topic Synonyms:
Civil Affairs Activities;
CMR

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