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REPORT FOR U.S. CONGRESS: “WHAT IS ‘BUILDING FOREIGN MILITARY CAPACITY?’ ISSUES FOR CONGRESS”

18 December 2015

In an insightful report, the U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a report on 18 December raising new questions and challenges over the U.S. strategic concept of strengthening the military capabilities of foreign partners so that they could assume increased responsibility for regional security.  With a varied record of achievements and limitations, including the U.S “Train & Equip” program for Georgia, for example, this report examines the American approach known as Building Partner Capacity (BPC), which “has increased in prominence within U.S. strategy, arguably becoming a central pillar of U.S. national security and foreign policy in recent years,” based on the premise that strengthening fragile foreign security institutions abroad will have benefits for U.S. national security. 

But the 60-page report notes that despite the growing centrality of BPC, “it remains unclear whether building the capacity of foreign security forces is an effective way to accomplish U.S. strategic objectives,” and adds that “recent events, particularly the battle between the Afghan government and the Taliban over Konduz, as well as the collapse of U.S.-trained and equipped forces in Iraq and Syria in the face of the Islamic State, have called into question whether these BPC programs can achieve their desired effects.”