Waging war, planning peace : U.S. noncombat operations and major wars / Aaron Rapport.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rapport, Aaron, author.

Series:

Cornell studies in security affairs.

Cornell Studies in Security Affairs

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States--Armed Forces--Operations other than war--History--20th century.

United States.

United States--Armed Forces--Operations other than war--History--21st century.

United States--Armed Forces--Operations other than war--Case studies.

United States--History, Military--20th century--Case studies.

United States--History, Military--21st century--Case studies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, [New York] ; London, [England] : Cornell University Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

As the U.S. experience in Iraq following the 2003 invasion made abundantly clear, failure to properly plan for risks associated with postconflict stabilization and reconstruction can have a devastating impact on the overall success of a military mission. In Waging War, Planning Peace, Aaron Rapport investigates how U.S. presidents and their senior advisers have managed vital noncombat activities while the nation is in the midst of fighting or preparing to fight major wars. He argues that research from psychology-specifically, construal level theory-can help explain how individuals reason about the costs of postconflict noncombat operations that they perceive as lying in the distant future. In addition to preparations for "Phase IV" in the lead-up to the Iraq War, Rapport looks at the occupation of Germany after World War II, the planned occupation of North Korea in 1950, and noncombat operations in Vietnam in 1964 and 1965. Applying his insights to these cases, he finds that civilian and military planners tend to think about near-term tasks in concrete terms, seriously assessing the feasibility of the means they plan to employ to secure valued ends. For tasks they perceive as further removed in time, they tend to focus more on the desirability of the overarching goals they are pursuing rather than the potential costs, risks, and challenges associated with the means necessary to achieve these goals. Construal level theory, Rapport contends, provides a coherent explanation of how a strategic disconnect can occur. It can also show postwar planners how to avoid such perilous missteps.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Introduction: Ambitious Aims and Meager Plans

1. Strategic Assessment and Noncombat Operations

2. The Occupation of Germany

3. "Phase IV" and the Invasion of Iraq

4. An Occupation That Never Was: Korea, 1950 - 1951

5. State Building during Escalation in Vietnam

Conclusion: Reviewing Theoretical and Policy Implications

Notes

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780801455636

0801455634

9780801456619

0801456614

9780801455643

0801455642

OCLC:

1080549026