Strategic Intelligence and Civil Affairs to Understand Legitimacy and Insurgency: Avoiding the Stabilization Trap Avoiding the Stabilization Trap

This book describes the common pitfalls of U.S. military interventions in efforts at stabilization, which supports post-conflict societies by establishing stable governance, rule of law, a safe and secure environment, economic development and social well-being for all members of the population.

“Military professionals and policymakers alike must read what Diane Chido lays out in this book. Diane provides a clear path for the Army to obtain a comprehensive situational understanding of the operational environment, and for the U.S. Government to avoid repeating disappointing experiences from the past.” — COL Jay Liddick, Commandant, U.S. Army Civil Affairs Brigade
“Diane Chido has done a magnificent job in describing how short-sighted it was to have downsized Civil Affairs and placed it under Special Operations. Her focus on a similar disregard among policymakers for strategic intelligence in favor of tactical urgencies explains why we are currently caught in ‘forever wars’ because we deal with symptoms every day, but seldom with the ultimate causes of armed conflicts.”— Michael Andregg, Instructor of Justice and Peace Studies (ret.), University of St. Thomas, MN, USA
This book describes the common pitfalls of U.S. military interventions in efforts at stabilization, which supports post-conflict societies by establishing stable governance, rule of law, a safe and secure environment, economic development and social well-being for all members of the population. These efforts are often unsuccessful and can even cause harm when mission teams do not understand both the populations with whom they are engaging and policymakers. The book recommends prioritizing a relational approach to stabilization with a professional and well-resourced Civil Affairs and strategic intelligence approach to engagements over the current preference for transactional, often lethal operations.
Diane E. Chido is President of DC Analytics, a former Intelligence Studies instructor with Mercyhurst University, and former Intelligence Advisor to the U.S. Army’s Peace Keeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI). Diane has worked in stabilization for over 25 years on socio-cultural issues including legitimacy, alternative governance and ethnic conflict.