Publications

The complexity of the environments in which NATO and its member nations conduct military operations is increasing. The rise of powerful non-state actors and the increasing likelihood of conflict taking place among civilian populations makes operations more difficult and the progress of operations toward their objectives more difficult to perceive. Hence, the increased attention we are paying to operations assessment, which is our attempt to determine the effectiveness of operations in these complex environments. The key finding of this activity is that a clear, explicit focus on improving the effectiveness of the organisation performing the assessment of its activities, vice a focus on accounting for resources, improves the quality of the assessment findings and products. These, in turn, lead to more effective operations. This report contains a variety of works on various theoretical topics: the assessment of the protection of civilians, containment of nuclear materials, strategic communication, and command and control systems; the potential of red teaming and surveys for assessment; the selection of indicators; and several other models or techniques for making sense of complex environments. Practical examples include real world assessment processes from the Pacific region, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, Western Africa, and major combat operations exercises.