Civil-military Relations, Irregular Warfare, and Resilience in Organizations

Introduction

The performance of an organization attributes both internal and external factors. These factors include leadership roles, resource management, political influence, and legislative policies. This paper provides a brief discussion on leadership roles in civil-military relationships, the influences of irregular warfare, and how to build resilience in an organization and their corresponding effects.

Leadership Roles in Civil-military Relations

Civil-military relations are the connections and interactions involving citizens, institutions, and the military of a state. Effective leadership is important in such interactions as it unites the three entities. One way to visualize this is how leaders in these institutions control the military’s influence in civilian affairs (Owens, 2012 p.68-9). For instance, they establish policies that protect normal citizens from excessive military force during raid operations on terrorist groups and highly wanted criminals threatening national security. This enacts the military’s sole mission, which is to protect innocent civilians and eliminate external threats.

Another leadership aspect reflects raising civilians’ concerns on external security and implementing policies from higher authorities. Under this role, institutions can equip the military with resources and information to carry out missions to counter irregular warfare to enhance protect all citizens. A properly established leadership system may also control the military from handling citizens against their rights and having unfair privileges regarding access to national resources (Owens, 2012). Generally, a leader’s role in civil-military relations is to enhance a healthy connection among institutions, the citizens, and the military. While it guides the military on the kind of battles they should fight, effective leadership guarantees a state’s stability.

Influences of Irregular Warfare

Irregular warfare has its major aims at eliminating terrorist and insurgent groups. Its effects can be outlined in three categories: first, second, and third orders. In the first category, the opposing group prepares to raid the deployed military personnel within their vicinity on a mission to detain a highly wanted individual (Emery, 2008  p. 35). Second-order effects involve the terrorist or insurgent groups spreading information about the military organization, which misleads people, such as rumors through available communication means of communication; social media platforms, churches, mosques, and the mass media. This channels more supporters into the group. Third-order influences are designated protests from elected leaders and social figures who increase the opposing group’s support and resistance towards the raiding military (Emery, 2008  pp. 35-8).

Leadership Engagement Aids in Developing Resilient Organizations

A chain is as strong as its weakest link, and so does any organization. Building resilience, therefore, forms most organizations’ vision and focuses on attributes such as growth, transparency, motivation, and strong connections between employers and employees. An organization oriented towards growth is the pride of any employee and may trigger dedication, commitment, and resilience to crises (Craig, 2018). Besides, creating a system that appreciates and rewards employees increases their motivation to work hard to achieve better results. Craig (2018) further suggests that transparency and social media connectivity with staff members also promotes trust and engagement in the organization. Indeed, an employee who feels appreciated, motivated, and trusts their managers will invest their best efforts in retaining the company’s name in times of crisis.

Reference

Craig, Williams. (January 23, 2018). How to Build Engaged and Resilient Teams. Forbes.

Emery, Norman E. (November 2018). “Influence of Irregular Warfare.” Irregular Warfare Information Operations: Understanding the Role of Individuals. Pp. 33-38.

Feaver, Peter D. (January 01, 1996). The Civil-military Proplematique: Huntington, Janowitz, and the Question of Civilian Control. (first edition). Sage Journals: Armed Forces and Society. ISSN: 1556-0848.

Lundberg K., Hannah R. Bowles, and Peter Zimmermann. (April 10, 2006). The Accidental Statesman: General Petraeus and the City of Mosul, Iraq. Harvard Business Publishing.

Owens, M. Thomas. (Spring, 2012). What Military Officers got to Realize Civil-military Relations. Volume 65, issue 2, U. S Naval War College Press. Pp. 68-80.