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Introduction
Briefings
Move 1
Move 2
Discussion
Summary
Conclusion
Appendix
Links
Contact

Background

The Governments of Japan and the United States, and the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations collaboratively produced a multinational seminar-game aimed at uncovering civil-military relationship issues that accompany modern peace support operations.  On behalf of Japan, the International Peace Cooperation Division of the Foreign Policy Bureau within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs co-sponsored the event, and assisted in the development and execution of the seminar.  On behalf of the United States, US Pacific Command contributed funding through its support of the Asia Pacific Peace Operations Capacity Building Program .  The Center of Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, a civil-military liaison organization established by US Congress, produced the content and executed the event.

Participation

The event host and co-sponsors considered participation by international (IO) and non-governmental organizations (NGO) crucial to the seminar's success.  Military and civilian police participants attended from 14 countries in Asia and the Pacific, along side 9 international (IO) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).  Countries sending representatives were Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam.  IOs participating included the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), World Food Programme (WFP), UN Emergency Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).  Participating NGOs were the Australian Council for Overseas Aid (ACFOA), Municipal Institute for International Cooperation (Japan), Association for Aid and Relief (Japan), and Peace Winds Japan.

A panel held on the closing day was composed of included 11 additional representatives from 10 Japanese NGOs: RENGO, Service for the Health in Asian & African Regions (SHARE), BHN Telecommunications Humanitarian Aid of Japan, Foundation for International Development & Relief, ICA Japan, Amnesty International, Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation, Minsai Center, Save the Children, and the National Federation of UNESCO Association.

Content and Focus

The event focused on networking and improving awareness among the participants about other sectors.  Aspects of peace operations that the seminar explored were:

1. The response strategies of the humanitarian community to a crisis;
2. The political management of a humanitarian focused mission and the development of unity of effort between components;
3. The interface between the humanitarian community and the other components in the mission;
4. The interaction between the varied agencies and organizations deployed to a crisis including international organizations, other governments and non-governmental organizations;
5. The responsibilities of the host nation and parties to the conflict in relation to the humanitarian effort;
6. The planning processes and how to generate consensus approaches in the mission;
7. Lessons learned from recent operations, and;
8. Managing civil military operations.

Process

The seminar opened with a day of expert briefs, followed by three days of a tabletop game.  It concluded with a morning panel discussion. Expert briefings on the first day provided a common foundation for discussion.  The topics covered were Evolving UN Peace Operations, The Humanitarian Role in Peacekeeping Operations, The Role of the Military in Peace Operations, and Policy and Political Factors in Shaping the Civil-Military Relationship.

The 3-day tabletop game was based on the concept of multinational participation in a fictional complex peace operation mandated by the UN Security Council, including the full range of political, diplomatic, humanitarian, police, and military components.  The peace operations scenario was driven by a border conflict between two mythical neighbors that resulted in extensive displacement of populations and created a humanitarian crisis to which the international community attempted to respond.  The crisis was resolved and a multinational force deployed, operating in parallel to the existing UN mission, to enforce the peace and to support the humanitarian relief effort, demarcation of the border and the peaceful return of the displaced to their homes.

Problems were explored based on two game moves which were presented by a group of subject matter experts - individuals acknowledged as having considerable personal experience in a subject - representing the key leadership that would be found in a typical UN Peace Support Mission.  Throughout the course of the game these individuals role-played the Mission's senior leadership team - Deputy Special Representative to the Secretary General, Force Commander, Civilian Police Commissioner, and Humanitarian Coordinator - to provide a structure and to add realism.  After the problems/game moves were presented in plenary session, the participants dispersed into smaller working groups to discuss the issues raised.  A representative of each group briefed the role players and their colleagues on their group's findings in a plenary session.

The game concluded on day five with a summary of the findings, which represents the core product of the seminar.  This out-brief was followed by a panel discussion open to non-participant local NGOs.  The intention of the panel discussion was: to articulate the challenges to civil-military cooperation as observed by the participants themselves in real world situations; to provide a forum for open discussion between civilian, humanitarian, civilian police and military representatives on issues of greatest concern to them; to promote understanding and awareness amongst all of the players; to reflect on different perspectives and lessons learned throughout the week; and, finally to consider new and novel solutions to civil-military coordination issues

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