C OMBATING T ERRORISM C ENTER at West Point Beyond the IED: Future Trends in the Study of Terrorism and the Education of Military Officers Dr. James JF

COMBATING TERRORISM CENTERat West Point

Beyond the IED: Future Trends in the Study of Terrorism and the Education of Military Officers

Dr. James JF ForestDirector of Terrorism Studies

U.S. Military Academy


Beyond the IED: Future Trends in the Study of Terrorism

and the Education of Military Officers

Agenda:

1) The Two Professions

2) Education and the Study of Terrorism at West Point

3) Future Trends in the Study of Terrorism

4) Implications for the Education of Military Officers

5) Conclusion

1. The Two Professions

Academic Profession Military Profession

http://www.unr.edu/news/imagepull.aspx?id=538&t=s


The Academic Profession

• “The Key Profession – the profession that educates other professions”

• Global similarities in the conduct of academic work

• Considerable autonomy, academic freedom

• Highly respected; special place in society

• Stronger loyalty to disciplinary affiliations than institutions

• Benefit of time to think deep thoughts, explore questions of great complexity

• Expectations from society in exchange for this benefit (teach, publish)

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The Military Profession

• Neither a public service agency nor a private sector enterprise

• Demands aptitude for leadership; leading soldiers in combat and peacekeeping missions

• Highly respected; special place in society

• Standard Operating Procedures, doctrines,

• Intense loyalty, patriotism, service to the nation

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Important Differences

Academic Profession Military Profession

Explore new intellectual territories Standard operating procedures

Informal peer review/governance Formal ranking & promotion system

Adherence to disciplines, theories Implementers of national policy

Training for research, teaching Training for war, national defense

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Common Themes

• In a profession, members are intrinsically motivated by their expert knowledge and dedicated to its application

• In a profession, members are given a considerable amount of latitude with respect to making decisions about how to achieve pre-defined goals and objectives

– The Academic Profession• maximizing student learning• contributing to a field of study

– The Military Profession• managing the employment of violence to achieve political goals

• And yet, both professions are in a battle to retain their traditional autonomy against the onslaught of an increasingly invasive bureaucracy

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Collaboration

• Security studies, terrorism studies, etc. – vital collaboration between academic and military professionals

• The success we have had in the War on Terror is largely due to a mix of operational capabilities and intellectual capacity

• Thucydides: “The nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.”

• It is vital to link the scholars and the warriors; places like NSSC at Univ. of Haifa and the CTC at West Point serve this purpose

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2. Education of Military Officers at West Point

Leader Development

ACADEMICPROGRAM

MILITARYPROGRAM

PHYSICALPROGRAM

CADET LEADER DEVELOPMENT SYSTEMCommissioned Officers:

Junior Grade

OfficershipDevelopmentStandards

Army Strategic Vision

The Academic Program Component

Multidisciplinary Academic Program Goals to Meet Army

Needs

Expected Student Outcomes

Learning Models and Curriculum to Achieve these Outcomes

COMPREHENSIVEASSESSMENT

SYSTEM

COMPREHENSIVEASSESSMENT

SYSTEM

Senior Military Academy LeadershipGeneral CommitteeCurriculum Committee Assessment Steering CommitteeFaculty Goal TeamsCourse DirectorsInstructors

ACADEMICPROGRAM

MILITARYPROGRAM

PHYSICALPROGRAM

CADET LEADER DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM

Cadet LeaderDevelopment System

AcademicProgram

10 - 13 Electives for a Major

1 Philosophy/Ethics2 Foreign Language3 Social Sciences

2 Leadership3 English4 History

1 Law

3* Engineering Science/Design2* Information Technology

1 Terrain Analysis2 Chemistry 2 Physics

4 Math

Bachelor of Science Degree

16 CoursesHumanities and Social Science

14* CoursesMath, Science, & Engineering

4 Military Science 4 Physical Education

The CoreCurriculum

Army Officer

The West Point Curriculum

* For cadets enrolled in non-ABET accredited majors only

The West Point Core Curriculum

Mil ArtIntegrative

Experience

Mil ArtLaw

4

Adv Comp

LeadershipInt’l RelIT2

3

For LangEconPhys GeogPhysicsProb/Stats

For LangPol SciPhilosophyPhysicsCalculus II

2

LitHistoryIT1ChemCalculus I

CompHistoryPsychChemColl Math

1

Engineering

Sequence #1

Engineering

Sequence #2

Engineering

Sequence #3

Elective

for MajorElective

Elective

Elective

Elective

Elective

Elective

Elective

ElectiveElective

Elective

for Major

Elective

for Major

Year in School

Graduation and Commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant in U.S. Army

Army Leaders must:

demonstrate: Creativity Moral Awareness

Commitment to Continued Intellectual Development Effective listening, speaking, reading, and writing

skills

understand: Culture History

Patterns of Human Behavior Mathematics and Science

Engineering and TechnologyInformation Technology

ACADEMICPROGRAM

MILITARYPROGRAM

PHYSICALPROGRAM

CADET LEADER DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM

10 Multidisciplinary Academic Program Goals

The Academic Program Component


Overall GoalGraduates of West Point will anticipate and respond effectively to the uncertainties of a changing technological, social, political, and economic world.

2. Education at West Point


3. The Study of Terrorism at West Point

Mr. Vincent Viola (’77)

GEN Wayne Downing


Dynamic Leaders

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Education, Research and Policy Analysis

The Combating Terrorism Centerat West Point

The Department of Social Sciences


Courses we teach• Terrorism & Counterterrorism

• Advanced Terrorism Studies

• Homeland Security Seminar

• Intelligence and Terrorism

• Information Warfare

* Minor in Terrorism Studies

3. Terrorism Education at West Point


Lesson topics include:

• History of Terrorism– Case studies

• Individual Motivations– Psychological and social dimensions– Strategic/rational choice– Psychological driving forces

• Group dynamics– Recruitment– Training– Goals, objectives, strategies, tactics– Ideology and communication– Organizational learning aspects of terrorist groups



Lesson topics include:• Recent trends in terrorism

– Madrid, Bali, London, Niger Delta

• Local circumstances that support terrorism– Political, economic and social conditions before terrorism

• Facilitators of terrorism– Financial & criminal networks

• Combating terrorism– U.S. National Security Strategy, CT Strategy, HS Strategy, etc.

– MIDLIFE dimensions of national power

– Strategic implications of military action


Expectations

Opportunities


Comparative Studies of Terrorism and Counterterrorism

• National, regional, subregional levels

• Comparing responses to terrorism in places like Ireland, Spain, Israel, Turkey, Cyprus, the UK, Sri Lanka, etc. . . .

• Developing typologies of terrorism and the response to terrorism

• What can we learn from successes in places like Mozambique?

• What common political, social contexts can we identify that indicate a high likelihood that a group will engage in terrorist activity?

4. Future Trends in the Study of Terrorism


Multidisciplinary Studies (engaging new disciplines beyond political science, sociology, psychology)

For example:

• Business (franchises, organizational learning theory, mergers, etc)

• Medicine (viruses, antibodies)

• Education (cognitive development, knowledge transfer)

• Natural Sciences (chemistry, biology, etc.)

• Other Behavioral and Social Sciences (e.g., economics)

• Also, multidisciplinary collaboration in the study of terrorism



• Some multidisciplinary questions that need answers:

• What are the vulnerabilities of a networked terrorist organization?

• What are some ideological differences among key terrorist groups, and how can these differences be exploited by counterterrorists?

• What new approaches for combating terrorism can be developed in an open, democratic society?

• How can we improve the practice of counterterrorism?

• How can we change the role of the media as “force multiplier”?

• What about the “mysteries” of terrorism?



Other multidisciplinary issues that need further research:

• Evolutions in terrorist strategies, weapons and tactics

• The dimensions of terrorism and WMD• Future acts of terrorist “judo”• Information warfare• Electronic warfare

• Potential terrorist group alliances

• Common ideology?• Complimentary goals/objectives?• Common enemy / common hatred of a particular policy?• Strategic sense (better potential for success by combining forces)?• Complimentary strengths? Mutual Gain?

• 5th Generation Warfare – strategic surprises of tomorrow?



5. Implications for the Education of Military Officers

Officers must have a total grasp of the struggle, not just the terrorist acts

Why is terrorism being used as a tactic?

What are the political goals? Part of an insurgency?

What are the political, social, economic, cultural, information dimensions of the conflict as well as the security and military aspects.

How do these interrelate?

Training on tactics, techniques, and procedures can be developed but not until the leaders have the background


The Military Officer of tomorrow must:

• Understand terrorists’ strategies (particularly at junior officer level)

• Maintain a high level of adaptability/flexibility in their response to terrorism

• Employ the discriminate yet decisive use of violence

• Understand the political objectives of military operations

• Have a full appreciation of many forms of technology and yet avoid over-reliance on technology vs. real situational awareness

• Find ways for better collection and integration of human intelligence




• Anticipate and respond effectively to ambiguous situations

• Develop the skills of indirect leadership/influence

• Appreciate the cultural dimensions of local support for insurgencies

• Recognize and understand local historical grievances

• Develop a capacity for systems thinking – must understand the phenomena of second- and third-order effects

• Be able to recognize telltale signs of chem/bio weapons development




• Understand the asymmetric warfare environment, strategy, tactics

• Appreciate political history of any conflict to which they are deployed

• Be a more effective communicator/messenger than the terrorists (expanded language capabilities are essential)

• Understand how complex, networked, decentralized, loosely organized groups operate

• Develop ways to exploit the seams within those networked organizations




• Organize strategic learning opportunities for each other & their soldiers

• Learn from other militaries’ experiences with COIN and combating terrorism, particularly against an adversary that adopts the strategies and tactics of 4GW/AW

• Create networks among military officers of different countries, through which they can share ideas and lessons learned

• Develop an interagency perspective

• Gain an understanding of local law enforcement challenges, strategies, capabilities, etc. in any deployment

• Work with the academic community to evaluate counterterrorism operations and identify reasons behind military successes and failures



Academics engaged in the study of terrorism have a critical role to play in the challenges of the future global security environment.

Comparative and multidisciplinary studies of terrorism are needed.

Academic studies of military successes (and failures) in combating terrorism will be particularly important in the global struggle before us.

A strategic learning partnership between the academic and military professions is needed.

This partnership between the academic community and the military profession must be nurtured on a national, regional and global level.

Conclusion A Partnership of The Two Professions

in Developing Better Responses to Terrorism

NATIONAL

WHOLE UNITEDNATIONS

COMBATING TERRORISM CENTERat West Point Questions/Discussion?

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C OMBATING T ERRORISM C ENTER at West Point Beyond the IED: Future Trends in the Study of Terrorism and the Education of Military Officers Dr. James JF