| ID | 121405 |
| Title Proper | Flipping the switch |
| Other Title Information | combat, state building, and junior officers in Iraq and Afghanistan |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Meyer, Thomas |
| Publication | 2013. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Contemporary us counterinsurgency doctrine in Iraq and Afghanistan requires junior leaders to engage in both combat and state-building activities. This study aims to explain the fundamental challenge in merging these. I argue that difficulty lies in separating insurgents from civilians, and translating doctrine from senior to junior officers. Junior officers consistently develop a similar ad hoc decision-making tool- role-switching-to simplify complex situations to a binary of "hostile or not." They understand themselves to fill only two roles, the violent "on" role and the non-violent "off" role and develop several tools to minimize the difficulty of role-switching, help their subordinates switch, and signal switching to local populations. Ultimately, however, problems with role-switching-role stickiness, inappropriate switching, and role bias-can in some cases encourage indiscriminate and excessive violence, pointing to the fundamental failures of using military forces as a one-size-fits-all solution to state-building projects abroad. |
| `In' analytical Note | Security Studies Vol. 22, No.2; Apr-Jun 2013: p.222-258 |
| Journal Source | Security Studies Vol. 22, No.2; Apr-Jun 2013: p.222-258 |
| Key Words | Counterinsurgency Doctrine ; Iraq ; Afghanistan ; Junior Officers ; Military |