Transparency and accountability in the management of defence

1. Transparency and accountability in the management of defence • Dr. Andrzej Karkoszka • Acting Undersecretary for Defence Policy • Director, Strategic Defence Review • Ministry of National Defence, Poland

2. What is „transparency” and „accountability”? • In management of defence, as in any public service, legislative and executive authorities have an obligation to account /reveal, explain, justify/ for their actions and for the allocation of public funds • Political, financial, administrative, legal accountability • Transparency – condition of accountability, provision of information to citizen, institutions, and the outside world on plans and actions of authorities

3. What is to be „transparent”? • Defence budgeting and planning • Management of defence system • Military structures and personnel policy • Strategic doctrine • Procurement and investment • International interactions in defence • Arms transfers

4. Institutions – venues of transparency and accountability • Parliament – fundamental element • Executive agencies of state • State audit authorities • Media • Academic and analytical institutions • Judiciary

5. What are the benefits of transparency and accountability? • Effectiveness – balancing of state/social needs with resources, proper execution of plans • Public confidence – legitimization of state authorities and their policies, including actions of the military • Barrier to corruption, nepotism, neglect • Facilitation of corrective action • External confidence building/cooperation

6. Resistance to transparency • Political – wish to preserve knowledge by dominant group to avoid consequences, unwillingness to discuss defence issues with the opposition • Security – if clandestine action is the only way of securitng interests of state, fear of disclosure to enemy in conflict, legitimate state’s secrets • Legal – to avoid persecution • Bureacratic – to cover up mismanagemet or lack of professional abilities • Legacies of the past – lack of interest or of a habit

7. Requirements for transparency and accountability • Legal norms setting the requirement • Political will /mind-set, attitudes, practices/ • Professional cadres /analysts, experts/ • Public awareness /education/ • Technological base /printing, data bases, comunications, standards/

8. Examples of means and methods for execution of transparency • Parliamentary debates, hearings, interpelations, reports, special commissions • Governmental documents on budgets, plans /White Books, reports, analyses/ • Audit reports and their public debate • Uncensored media coverage

9. Transparency and accountability – a few cases from „real life” • Cover-ups in the name of military corporate interest • Over-sophisticated documents – only for „experts” • Misinformation as a way of protection • Accountability within the ranks – the most difficult aspect of accountability implementation • Power of „monopoly on information”