“Why was there no warning of this?”
“No planning, … just in case?”
“What is the strategy here?”
How often do questions like these arise when an unexpected event brings on a bloody conflict and voices from all sides are calling for contenting powers and stakeholders to effect a satisfactory outcome?
The Salon will ponder these and related issues when it meets on Thursday, June 27. Providing the scene-setter for the discussion will be Michael Dziedzic.
Michael Dziedzic is a retired Colonel whose career blended the worlds of theory and practice in the realm of peacekeeping and stability operations. His field experience included postings in El Salvador, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. His publications have shaped the way the U.S. approaches peace and stability operations. Notably, Quest for Viable Peace proposed that “conflict transformation” is the essence of the transition from war to sustainable peace. This concept was adopted by the State Department’s as the paradigm for U.S. strategic planning and was incorporated into the US Army Field Manual on Stability Operations. Dr. Dziedzic currently is a Senior Fellow for Combatting Criminalized Power Structures and Elite at the Alliance for Peacebuilding. A fuller biography is given below.
To be sure, no single individual or actor with a vital stake in a crisis is likely to have a simple or ready-made solution for violent conflicts that seem to burst on the scene. Perhaps, that is just the point. One-sided courses-of-action are not framed to address multi-sided interests and rights.
Colonel Dziedzic will invite participants in the Salon to consider and discuss:
Models and examples of planning processes to guide actors when contingencies arise and action is required. Are these flexible enough to adapt to changing events in the field?;
Lessons learned from the management – or mis-management -- of earlier crises. What do they teach us? recommend? Is it misleading, from the outset, to think of crises as something for managers, like MBAs, to handle?
The role diplomacy plays in conjunction with strategy before, during, and after crises? Does each have its “own lane to travel” or is a “whole of government” approach advisable from start to finish?
The Salon, as previous participants understand, is not a “How-to” Information-Transfer Exercise. Invitees from DACOR and their guests will likely have been involved in one or more crises or aspects of of a crisis in their careers. All attending the Salon are invited to share their pertinent experiences and voice their doubts, actively listen and constructively question.
Sign up soon, bring your ideas, and bring a friend!
Michael Dziedzic is a retired Colonel whose career blended the worlds of theory and practice in the realm of peacekeeping and stability operations. His field experience included postings in El Salvador, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. His publications include works that have shaped the way the U.S. approaches peace and stability operations. Policing the New World Disorder identified a recurring “public security gap” which led to the creation of the Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units. Quest for Viable Peace proposed that “conflict transformation” is the essence of the transition from war to sustainable peace, and this concept was adopted by the State Department’s Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization as the paradigm for U.S. strategic planning and was incorporated into the US Army Field Manual 3-07 on Stability Operations. His most recent publications, Criminalized Power Structures: The Overlooked Enemies of Peace and Combating Criminalized Power Structures: A Toolkit, provide empirical evidence that criminalized power structures are the predominant spoilers of peace and stability operations and propose strategies for dealing with them. He currently is a Senior Fellow for Combatting Criminalized Power Structures and Elite Capture at the Alliance for Peacebuilding.
Location
Setting: In-Person DACOR Bacon House 1801 F Street, NW Washington, DC 20006 UNITED STATES
