Navy Should Absorb Army's Peacekeeping Institute by Greg Olsen – Proceedings
Secretary of the Army Mark Esper reportedly has recommended eliminating the Army War College’s Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI). The purported reason is that under the new National Defense Strategy, the Army should be focusing on fighting wars against peer and near-peer competitors. In light of this, I have a modest proposal: Move the institute to the Naval War College.
The rationale for the move is pragmatic and rests on four reasons:
(1) Having a research institute dedicated to peacekeeping is vital to National Defense Strategy
(2) Peacekeeping and stability operations mostly are antithetical to the strategic culture of the U.S. Army
(3) Peacekeeping and stability operations are more closely aligned with the strategic culture and purpose of the U.S. Marine Corps
(4) While the Marine Corps University, in Quanitco, Virginia, is the logical place to locate the institute, it currently is resourced for teaching as opposed to research, whereas the Naval War College has a robust research agenda in addition to its professional military education mission…
In a nutshell: Army leadership wants to do away with PKSOI. Options are, at least, being discussed. I think this option would not work. SWJ (me) wants to hear from you. Shoot me a well-written and logical paper on this issue – why this option is good or bad – what other options might work, or not (USMC comes to mind) – anything else that addresses this issue. Send to dave@smallwarsjournal.com – I can publish within a day – most likely hours – would like to keep this discussion fresh and rolling.