Becoming Our Own Best Ally: Planning Socio-Cultural Dynamics Activities in Africa

1. Becoming Our Own Best Ally:Planning Socio-Cultural Dynamics Activities in Africa Patuxent Defense Forum 22 April 2009 CAPT Wayne A. Bley, USN (RET) Nathalie J. Frensley, Ph.D.

2. Organizing ourselves by learning about others? What are the consequences of providing information about the external environment to all stakeholders for inter-organizational cohesion and coordination? How can socio-cultural analysis operations and data-provision facilitate a highly institutionalized, networked megacommunity from highly distrustful and organizationally dissimilar agencies, departments, and groups?

3. AFRICOM’s Coordination Problems • AFRICOM’s programmatic emphasis on conflict prevention and active security increases the number of stakeholders and increases the web of interactions required for them to cooperate and coordinate • AFRICOM, as a new organization, must face coordinating with other US agencies and NGOs that, as organizations have established cultures, procedures, and social networks. • AFRICOM suffers from a poverty of riches in that as a Department of Defense Command, it has access to organizational resources that other organizations simply do not have and are unlikely to have in the near term. • Nonetheless, AFRICOM’s own mission statement places constraints on its actions that should, under the right conditions, inspire assurances with other stakeholders that would facilitate interagency coordination in overall US engagement with Africa.

4. Ambassador Mary C. Yates, Deputy to the Commander for Civil-Military Activities, U.S. Africa Command, July 15, 2008 testimony to Congress • First: "in concert with other U.S. government agencies and international partners." This emphasizes our role as the military component within the context of the broader U.S. government effort. We will conduct all of our activities as part of the interagency team.  • Secondly: "sustained security engagement." At USAFRICOM, we have committed ourselves to the delivery of effective security assistance programs and ensuring the programs achieve their desired effect in the long run. • And thirdly: "in support of U.S. foreign policy." Our efforts represent the security dimension of the foreign policy set forth by the Department of State. USAFRICOM does not make U.S. foreign policy. 

5. Problems with AFRICOM Identified in the CRS January 2009 and the GAO February 2009 Reports

6. Problems with AFRICOM Identified in the CRS January 2009 and the GAO February 2009 Reports

7. Problems with AFRICOM Identified in the CRS January 2009 and the GAO February 2009 Reports

8. Traditional versus Institutional Approaches to Thinking about Organizations: Ignoring Coordination versus Pathways to Coordination • Organizational rationality and efficiency vs. Institutionalism • Utility maximization vs. Legitimacy (from shared cultural scripts) • Logic of consequences vs. Logic of appropriateness • Zero-sum firm maximization vs. Variable-sum system optimization

9. African Populace, Influential Actors, Groups, and Leaders SCT SCT SCT State AFRICOM SCDC USAID AFRICOM’s Coordination Reality

10. Effects of Socio-Cultural Knowledge as a Shared Organizational Culture Script

11. A MegaCommunity is a collaborative socio-cultural environment in which business, government, civil society and academia interact according to their common interests, while maintaining their unique priorities Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Civil Society Government • Multi-sector • Engagement • Overlapping • Vital Interests • Convergence • Structure • Adaptability Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence SCDS enabled MegaCommunity Academia Business Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Populace A MegaCommunity relies on the dynamic tension that exists among all three sectors – each sector uses its levers of influence to interact with a different sector Adapted from MEGACOMMUNITIES, Palgrave MacMillan, 2008, p 56

12. Today, government, business, and civil society are facing issues that are too large and complex for any one entity to solve alone Issues are becoming more highly interconnected Stakeholder networks are growing more complex Interdependencies are adding a higher degree of uncertainty to decision making “Old boundaries” are disappearing Information flows are changing the rules of engagement Events have the potential to escalate abruptly, unpredictably, and at a pace that exceeds our ability to respond Climate Change Public Health Terrorism Water Scarcity Energy Sustainability Pandemics Natural Disaster Obsolete Urban Infrastructure Aging Population Security Vulnerability

13. Socio-Cultural Dynamics System • SCDS = a cross, inter and multi discipline capability with an emphasis on the applied research skills of the social and physical science disciplines while utilizing the theoretical models.  A partial list of potential applicabledisciplines in alphabetical order are: anthropology, comparative religions, economics, geography, geology, history, law, linguistics, marine biology, philosophy, political science, psychology, and sociology • SCD = socio-cultural dynamics is a problem set.  SCD exists everywhere there are people/organizations that are interacting  • SCT = socio-cultural teams.  This is a group of individuals from the socio-cultural disciplines who attempt to solve a socio-cultural problem - they address a specific dynamic or set of dynamics • SCDC = socio-cultural dynamics center

14. MegaCommunity thinking convenes disparate actors towards addressing seemingly intractable problems For clarification, a MegaCommunity is not: An advanced form of public-private partnerships Another name for corporate social responsibility or philanthropy Another international/intergovernmental forum (e.g., The World Economic Forum) A large community of interest A collection of like-minded actors A MegaCommunity is: A public sphere in which organizations and people deliberately join together around a compelling issue of mutual importance, following a set of practices and principles that will make it easier for them to achieve results A larger ongoing community of interest, where governments, corporations, nonprofits, and others intersect over time. The participants remain interdependent because their common interest compels them to work together

15. A MegaCommunity is a collaborative socio-cultural environment in which business, government, civil society and academia interact according to their common interests, while maintaining their unique priorities Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Civil Society Government • Multi-sector • Engagement • Overlapping • Vital Interests • Convergence • Structure • Adaptability Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence SCDS enabled MegaCommunity Academia Business Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Levers of Influence Populace A MegaCommunity relies on the dynamic tension that exists among all three sectors – each sector uses its levers of influence to interact with a different sector Adapted from MEGACOMMUNITIES, Palgrave MacMillan, 2008, p 56