Slapout’s Recommended SSI PDF on Tribalism

Downstream in the Pressfield post, Slapout from the SWC helpfully offered up this SSI PDF on tribalism, DIME and strategy by Richard J. Taylor:

 TRIBAL ALLIANCES: WAYS, MEANS, AND ENDS TO SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY

It’s good. The perspective is current but integrated with historical examples, seeking to examine where tribal structures, which Taylor sees as complex social institutions, fit in with the entire spectrum of American strategic and operational goals. An excerpt:

…Insights. Using tribal contributions as a “means” or a resource of achieving multinational operational

success has advantages and disadvantages. One advantage of employing the organizational strength

of tribes is that historically they have provided valued assistance to intelligence, security and law

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enforcement, combat arms, and civil affairs capabilities. Recognition of this “means” as a functional

support tool is not explicitly stated in the NMS. Considering the broad range of nations across the

“arc of instability” that are comprised of ethnic-tribal units, one could implicitly deduce that tribes

are included as part of “multinational capability” in the NMS. A second advantage to using tribes as a

resource provider (“means”) is that tribes bring unique cultural and physical geographic knowledge

to the success of any military operation. Tribes know the terrain, the language, and the culture; tribes

contribute to the cultural learning of American military forces.

Conversely, incorporating tribes as part of a multinational capability may not encourage democratic

or modernizing practices among the society as a whole. More specifically, U.S. associations with tribes

may be interpreted as a silent agreement to practices such as discrimination against women or tribal

out-groups. Similarly, it is hoped that the sins (mandated settlement policies, land use restrictions, and

failure to honor tribal treaty commitments) of colonial tribal policies are not carried forward into the

21st century by U.S. military commands. A distinct disadvantage in working with tribes as a “means”

to strategy success is fragmentation. Depending on geographic location, tribal connections among

members may not be as coherent as in the past.