Civil-military communications within integrated United Nations Peacekeeping

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Civil-military communications within

integrated United Nations Peacekeeping

The interaction between the Dutch military and civil United Nations

entities during the MINUSMA-mission in Gao (Mali)

Master Thesis International Humanitarian Action Name: Koen van der West Student-number: 1960407 E-mail: koenvanderwest@msn.com Phone: +31638422374 Supervisors: Dr. S. de Hoop, University of Groningen Dr. Ir. S.J.H. Rietjens, Netherlands Defence Academy

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Abstract

Civil and military actors are more and more active in the same environment. The relationship between both actors has been troublesome, and as a result research on Civil-Military Interaction (CMI) is en vogue. Within the research field of CMI it is often mentioned that communication between civil and military actors is problematic. It appears however that there has been a lack of research which specifically focuses on civil-military communication. Besides this, there are gaps in research on interaction between military and civil actors which are not humanitarian organizations, and on CMI within integrated peacekeeping missions. This research therefore tries to combine these gaps by focusing on a case of communication between a military entity and several sorts of civil entities within an integrated peacekeeping mission. It will do so by focusing on the Dutch Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance company (ISR-coy), which is a military unit that provides intelligence for the United Nations (UN), and different sorts of civil UN entities, ranging from civil peacekeeping actors to humanitarian UN agencies. The selected case in which this communication takes place is the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). The research answers the following question: To what extent is communication between the Dutch military and civil UN entities within the MINUSMA mission in the Gao-region (Mali) effective?

This question was answered by making use of a theoretical framework on civil-military communication. The framework looked at the external information needs of both entities and included barriers that might hamper communication. Effective communication was defined as follows: ‘The process by which information is transmitted between civil and military organizations, in which a minimum of communication barriers are present, so that an understanding response of the information occurs.’ For obtaining relevant data to answer this question, personnel was interviewed from the Dutch military, as well as from several civil UN entities. The interviews were transcribed and analysed by using a qualitative data analysis programme, out of which the following findings were disseminated:

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the ISR-coy with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) was even rated as ineffective. For these entities communication barriers were highly present, in which linguistic barriers, and internal organizational issues were mostly hampering the communication. An important example is the fact that many persons from the ISR-coy did not speak French, whilst on the civil side there was a lack of English proficiency. Although these communication barriers have also been present in the communication with civil MINUSMA entities, the effectiveness of communication with these entities seems to have been determined by the closeness of civil and military actors in terms of culture, mission, tasks, and goals. Additionally it was found that personal relationships and individual cultural closeness of persons involved in communication were important factors which contributed to the effectiveness of civil-military communication. The research also provided recommendations that mainly focused on improved and intensified training for civil as well as military entities on issues related to CMI. Lastly recommendations were provided on enhancing organizational structures and the capacity of the different entities involved.

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Preface

Groningen, 31 March 2016 This thesis is the result of a qualitative research on civil-military communication within UN peacekeeping. It has been performed as part of the International Humanitarian Action Master from the Network On Humanitarian Action at the University of Groningen.

My interest in Civil-Military Interaction (CMI) was already raised while I was finishing my Bachelor in History. During this Bachelor my first supervisor, Sipke de Hoop, introduced me to the civil-military field in his Peace and Security courses. Later, whilst studying for one of the courses from my Master, I got in contact with my second supervisor, Bas Rietjens, who was one of the authors of an interesting article in civil-military communication. Bas inspired me to conduct my Master thesis research on the communication between the Dutch army and civil UN entities within the peacekeeping mission in Mali. Furthermore he provided me with some useful contacts for the interviews. I want to thank both of my supervisors for their enthusiasm, knowledge and professional guidance during the course of this research.

Furthermore I would like to thank all the people who I have interviewed for their time, insights and information. Without you this thesis could not have been finished. I also want to thank Myrthe Sablerolle for correcting and improving my spelling and grammar. Lastly, I want to thank my girlfriend, family and friends for their support!

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List of abbreviations

1.CMI Co: First Civil-Military Interaction Command (Dutch army) AFISMA: African-led International Support Mission in Mali ASIC: All Sources Information Cell

ASIFU: All Sources Information Fusion Unit AQIM: Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

AU: African Union

CIMIC: Civil-Military Cooperation Civad: Civil adviser

CMCoord: Civil-Military Coordination (United Nations) CMI: Civil-Military Interaction

CNRDR: National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and State DDR: Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration

ECOWAS: Economic Community of West African States

FC: Force Commander

HC: Humanitarian Coordinator HOTO: Hand-Over Take-Over

HQ: Headquarter

HRD: Human Rights Division IED: Improvised Explosive Device IO: International Organization

ISAF: International Security Assistance Force

ISR-coy: Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Company JMAC: Joint Mission Analysis Centre

MIA: Islamic Movement of Azawad

MNLA: Movement for the National Liberation of Azawad MUJWA: Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa

MINUSMA: Mission multidimensionnelle Intégrée des Nations Unies pour la Stabilisation au Mali (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali)

MSF: Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NGO: Non-Governmental Organization

SRSG: Special Representative of the Secretary-General PoC: Protection of Civilians

S&R: Stabilization and Recovery

UAV: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

UN: United Nations

UNDP: United Nations Development Program

UNDPKO: United Nations Department for Peacekeeping Operations UNDSS: United Nations Department for Safety and Security UNHCR: United Nations High Commission for Refugees UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund

UNOCHA: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs UNMAS: United Nations Mine Action Service

UNMIL: United Nations Mission in Liberia

UNMISS: United Nations Mission in the republic of South-Sudan USAID: United States Agency for International Development WFP: World Food Program

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List of figures

page

Figure 1: The information management framework……….……….28

Figure 2: Adapted information management framework………..29

Figure 3: Communication process………...……….………...…..30

Figure 4: Framework of civil-military communication…...……….…………...……...35

Figure 5: UN mission organizational structure……….…………...………..43

Figure 6: Organogram of the involved entities………...54

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Introduction

“In today’s operations, civil-military interaction is extremely difficult to manage, but impossible to avoid.”

(Gjørv, 2014, p. 8)

Civil and military actors are nowadays more and more active in the same environments and are thus increasingly forced to interact with one another. Examples are plentiful, not only do both entities interact during violent conflict, but also increasingly during natural disasters (Metcalfe et al, 2012). Within United Nations peacekeeping missions for instance, military, humanitarian and other spheres of action are combined. The success of these integrated missions highly depends on an effective interaction between civil and military actors (Hatzenbichler, 2001). Civil-Military Interaction (CMI) has, however, often been described by scholars as difficult and problematic, especially in terms of communication (Metcalfe et al, 2012; Maiers et al., 2009; Rietjens et al., 2009; Maynard, 2001; Fenton and Loughna, 2013).

Research problem

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Besides this Metcalfe et al. acknowledged that there is also a gap in research which specifically focuses on civil-military engagement within international interventions, which pursue integrated approaches (2012). Lastly the bulk of the research within CMI has focused on humanitarian-military interaction in which mainly NGOs have been investigated. The civil spectrum is however much broader, and also involves humanitarian and developmental UN agencies, civil peacekeeping actors, local civil societies and host nation authorities. It is therefore interesting to see if the same communicational problems also occur with other civil actors.

Research objectives and research question

In order to fill the lacuna in research focused on the broad spectrum of civil-military communication within integrated international interventions, this research will focus on a practical example that deals with these issues. Focusing on civil-military communication within an international intervention will hopefully provide more insight on communicational issues within CMI, and more importantly will bring about recommendations for overcoming these issues. Furthermore it also shows differences and commonalities in communication between different sorts of civil actors when engaging with the military, which have not been discussed within the CMI research spectrum yet.

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UN entities. This choice was furthermore based on the assumption that interaction between civil and military UN actors within UN peacekeeping should be less problematic (Frerks et al., 2006). Lastly, the choice for this specific case was informed by the fact that MINUSMA is a very recent, and still on-going, mission, which will provide insight into the current state of affairs in CMI.

This thesis therefore seeks to identify the way in which communications between civil UN entities and the Dutch military takes place and, if possible, hopes to give recommendations for future improvement. The research question can be stated as follows:

‘To what extent is communication between the Dutch military and civil UN entities within the MINUSMA mission in the Gao-region (Mali) effective?’

Sub-questions and hypotheses

For answering this question in a manageable way several sub-questions have been compiled. After each question, it is indicated which chapter is going to answer the question. The sub-questions for this research are the following:

 What is the state of the art in research on CMI in general, and specifically in communication issues? (Chapter 1)

 What does effective communication mean within a CMI context? (Chapter 2)  What tool is appropriate for analysing communication within CMI? (Chapter 2)

 Which methods need to be used in order to acquire data about civil-military communication? (Chapter 3)

 What is the context in which the communication between civil UN entities and the Dutch military takes place in the Gao region? (Chapter 4)

 Who are the civil and military actors that are involved in this research? (Chapter 4)  How did communication take place between civil UN entities and the Dutch military in

the Gao region? (Chapter 5)

 What are the problems in communication between civil UN entities and the Dutch military in the Gao region? (Chapter 5)

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extent effective, since the actors are all part of the overarching UN organization. Secondly, communication between the Dutch military and humanitarian UN entities will be more problematic than the communication with MINUSMA civil entities. Because the civil MINUSMA entities and the Dutch army are both part of the same MINUSMA mission, and therefore communication will probably be easier.

Research structure

In order to answer the research question and its sub-questions several steps have been taken. First of all a literature review has been conducted with regards to civil-military interaction in general, and civil-military communication in specific. This chapter gives a broad introduction on research conducted within the CMI spectrum so far and will also give the main gaps within civil-military research. The second chapter consists of a more specific review focused on theories regarding effective communication. In this chapter a theoretical framework fit for the purpose of this research is developed. Although this thesis draws heavily upon the research of Rietjens et al., who developed a five-stage information management framework for civil-military communication (2009), additional theories concerning communication between organizations have been looked upon. Within this theoretical framework effective communication is defined as:

‘The process by which information is transmitted between civil and military organizations, in which a minimum of communication barriers are present, so that an understanding response

of the information occurs.’

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recommendations, with regards to effective communication between the civil UN entities and the Dutch military. The conclusion provides a short wrap-up of the discussed issues and gives an answer to the different sub-questions and the main question. It is concluded that civil-military communication has been to a great extent effective between the ISR-coy and civil UN entities that are part of the mission, although some communicational barriers are still present. The communication with the UN agencies is however rated as ineffective. Several reasons are given for this, such as organizational closeness, the importance of personal relationships and individual cultural similarities of the ones communicating. Lastly, the conclusion will provide recommendations for further research within the field of CMI.

Limitations & utility

All research has limitations, as does this one. One of the main limitations that this research faces is that communication between civil and military actors was not directly observable due to the inability of the researcher to visit Gao. Interviews however form a perfect alternative, because it clearly shows how the interviewees have perceived the communication with each another. There is however the danger that interviewees give socially desirable answers, which could give an inaccurate picture. It is however believed that this limitation can be tackled by comparing the answers of the interviewees. Within the research one respondent from UNOCHA for instance rated civil-military communication as very positive. By looking at answers from other interviewees it could however be demonstrated that this was not the case. It does thus seems like a socially desirable answer was given in this case, but the other interviews served as a cross-check.

Although a great amount of people have been interviewed, another limitation that has slightly hampered this research has been the limited availability of employees of civil actors for interviews, especially within humanitarian UN agencies. Sufficient interviews have however been conducted with civil UN entities, but it would have enriched the research if more people could have been interviewed in depth. This has been caused because most prospective civil interviewees where still active in the field, and thus too busy in doing their work.

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1. The research field of civil-military interaction

“Whether or not to co-operate, to what extent, under what conditions, and how, have become

controversial issues and are hotly debated.”

(Frerks et al., 2006, p. 32)

Civil-military interaction (CMI) is a relatively new field of research within the academic world. Although interactions have occurred between civilians and soldiers throughout history (where there is war there are civilians) it has only been since the early nineties that this topic has become a real academic issue (James, 2003; Homan, 2010; Gjørv, 2014). This can be clearly observed when looking at the interference of the international community within areas that are affected by war. So-called peacekeeping missions have traditionally focused on upholding a ceasefire between two conflicting parties (Rietjens et al., 2009). From the early nineties onwards peacekeeping missions have however grown in complexity, with regards to their mission and scope. This is a direct result of changes within armed conflicts, which currently mainly occur within, instead of between states, and furthermore because of the failure of previous approaches in peacekeeping (Egnell, 2013). As a consequence, several spheres of action, such as military, developmental and humanitarian, have become integral to current peacekeeping missions (Frerks et al., 2006; Metcalfe et al., 2012; Egnell, 2013). Due to these developments, international military forces are more and more inclined to interact with civilian actors, such as host nation agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and International Organizations (IOs) (Egnell, 2013). The interaction that occurs between civil and military actors during operations can be depicted on a scale ranging from co-existence to cooperation (Metcalfe et al., 2012). Possible forms of interaction are, for instance, coordination of actions, joint operations, armed escorts, and information sharing (Frerks et al., 2006).

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that this this chapter does not provide a complete overview of the research on CMI issues, only the issues which are deemed to be most important for this specific research are treated.

1.1. The concepts of the civil-military spectrum

Within the military research field there are several concepts to be found, such as civil-military relations, Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC), Civil-Military Coordination (CMCoord) and Civil-Military Interaction (CMI). Each of these concepts has a slightly different meaning and background. ‘Civil-military relations’ mostly refers to the relationship between militaries and national civilian organisations within the same state (Gjørv, 2014). To be clear, this thesis does not reflect upon civil-military relations as interpreted above, but between international military actors who are deployed to a certain area in which they interact with civilian organizations.

‘CIMIC’ is a concept that has been framed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The term basically refers to civil-military engagement, which is specifically for military purposes (Metcalfe et al., 2012). It thus reflects on civil-military engagement from a military perspective, which has for this reason been criticised by civilian actors (Frerks et al., 2006). ‘CMCoord’, in turn, is a concept which has been defined by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), which means the “essential dialogue and interaction between civilian and military actors in humanitarian emergencies that is necessary to protect and promote humanitarian principles, avoid competition, minimize inconsistency, and when appropriate, pursue common goals” (UNOCHA, 2015). ‘CMCoord’ is therefore a concept reflecting more on the humanitarian perspective (Frerks et al., 2006; Metcalfe et al., 2012), and has thus imbedded a certain bias.

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consequence, this thesis will not deal with other civil entities outside the UN, such as local authorities and organizations.

It must be mentioned that NATO is currently also introducing the term CMI, but their definition of CMI is more neutral than their CIMIC definition, since it refers to increased “effectiveness and efficiency” for both actors (NATO, 2014). Furthermore the term CMI has also been used by some other military elements, such as the first Civil-Military Interaction Command (1. CMI Co) of the Netherlands (Defensie.nl, 2015). The term CMI will however be maintained within this thesis, since it currently seems to be the most neutral term at hand.

1.2. Relevant Issues within CMI research

Within the research field of civil-military interaction, debates have focussed mainly on conceptual issues (Metcalfe et al., 2012). The big differences that exist between military and (mainly humanitarian) civil actors have been highlighted very often as having a negative effect on effective coordination and communication. One of the main issues is the cultural difference existing between both entities. The difference in cultural perceptions is one of the main hurdles in effective CMI according to many scholars and practitioners (e.g. Barry and Jefferys, 2002; James, 2003; Franke, 2006; Rietjens et al., 2009; Metcalfe et al., 2012). The word ‘culture’ in this case must be seen as a container concept to which many of the specific problems refer. Issues like differences in language, organizational structure, goals, values, mandates, principles, etcetera, can all be brought back to this concept of ‘culture’. The concept of cultural distinctiveness seems to have dominated the research field of CMI, although the specificity of the cultural topic differs.

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main issues that can be found within the existing literature. The following paragraphs therefore explore the main cultural differences and the topics related to communication that have been mentioned within the humanitarian-focused literature.

1.2.1. Cultural differences

Within the consulted literature, many scholars have argued that cultural differences pose a major problem for effective CMI (e.g.: James, 2003; Scheltinga et al., 2005; Franke, 2006; Homan, 2010; Egnell, 2013). Prejudices and misunderstandings on each other form an additional problem.

Generally, the military organizational culture can be described as hierarchical, with a clear line of authority and discipline. Moreover the military are trained to use controlled violence in order to achieve security, when ordered to do so by their respective national governments. Their activities are thus politically legitimated. The humanitarian and development communities on the other hand in general are less hierarchical, are internationalist, and put more emphasis on nonviolence (Franke, 2006; Metcalfe et al., 2012; Egnell, 2013). In essence, humanitarianism is motivated by the desire to reduce human suffering (Egnell, 2013). This leads to differences in motivations, goals and approaches between civil and military actors (Metcalfe et al., 2012).

Regarding organizational structure, the humanitarian and developmental organizations are horizontal, meaning decisions are being made in a more or less informal setting through consensus. The military organizational structure is the complete opposite. The structure is vertically organized, with top-down decision-making. Furthermore both entities work with different time perceptions. The military is often only deployed for a short period of time, whilst humanitarian and especially development organizations are deployed for a longer period (Franke, 2006; Frerks et al., 2006).

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might see humanitarians as ‘uncoordinated’, ‘ill-disciplined’ ‘hippies’ (James, 2003; Scheltinga et al., 2005; Frerks et al., 2006).

Many scholars have given recommendations in order to overcome the cultural differences that lead to ineffective CMI. Increasing mutual awareness through training, coordination and information-sharing are some of the recommendations that have been proposed (Barry and Jefferys, 2002; Scheltinga et al., 2005; Rietjens et al., 2009). This kind of training is increasingly implemented in practice, there are improvements in coordination and there is also an increase in guiding documents on civil-military interaction. But mutual awareness is still far of and the fact that guidelines are not always adhered to, proves that these efforts are not yet sufficient to solve the issues that occur within CMI (Metcalfe et al., 2012).

1.2.2. Humanitarian principles, accessibility and security

The above-mentioned culture-related issues can be found repetitively within most of the literature on CMI. One of the culturally-related issues within civil-military interaction deserves specific attention however. There is, and always has been, a conceptual discussion within the civil-military field concerning the so-called humanitarian principles (e.g. Barry and Jefferys, 2002; Frerks et al., 2006; Franke, 2006; Wortel, 2009; Rietjens et al., 2009; Metcalfe et al., 2012; Egnell, 2013). This discussion becomes especially heated when looking at military personnel who provide humanitarian aid themselves.

Humanitarian aid, as given by humanitarian organizations, is often based on the so-called humanitarian principles, which are humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence1 (Wortel, 2009). These principles came forth out of the International Red Cross movement and have since been widely recognised by many humanitarian actors. These principles might be at stake when humanitarian actors interact or cooperate with military actors (idem). Furthermore interacting with the military might hamper the access to beneficiaries and can also have an effect on the security of aid workers (Barry and Jefferys, 2002; Frerks et al., 2006). For this reason, many humanitarian organizations highly resent intensive cooperation with the military.

1_{Humanity: the provision of humanitarian assistance where it is needed and in a manner which respects the}

rights and dignity of the individual.

Impartiality: the provision of humanitarian assistance without discrimination among recipients and guided solely by needs, with priority given to the most urgent cases of distress.

Neutrality: the provision of humanitarian assistance without engaging in hostilities or taking sides in controversies of a political, religious or ideological nature.

Independence: the provision of humanitarian assistance in a manner that is autonomous from the political, economic, military or other objectives of actors engaged in the areas where humanitarian action is being undertaken.

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Another issue that is highly resented by humanitarian actors, are military actors who are providing humanitarian aid as part of their military objectives. This is often referred to as the ‘militarization of aid’ (Metcalfe et al., 2012). Humanitarians argue that the lines between military and humanitarian are as a result being blurred, which might lead to aid workers being deliberately attacked (idem.; Wortel, 2009). Again, the militarization of aid is seen as an infringement on the humanitarian principles, which could lead to security and accessibility issues. It has however been argued by Goodhand that that this is based on ideological assumptions which are not underpinned by factual proof (2013). This can also be seen within the research of Frerks et al. on civil-military interaction in Liberia and Afghanistan. They concluded that: “Attacks on aid agencies are (…) primarily a result of the general context, rather than of the blurring of lines between aid workers and the military” (2013, p. 10). Despite these findings, the discussion concerning the possible harmfulness of CMI in relation to the humanitarian principles remains. It seems necessary however, to depart from the conceptual discussion and look more into ways in which civil-military interaction and its issues are working in practice, as has also been emphasized by Metcalfe et al. (2012).

1.2.3. Information-sharing and communication

Some practical issues in civil-military interaction that are regularly mentioned are communication and information-sharing problems. Within the consulted literature, this issue has been highlighted by many scholars (among others: Barry and Jefferys, 2002; James, 2003; Maiers et al., 2005; Frerks et al., 2006; Metcalfe et al., 2012; Haysom, 2013). It has for instance been mentioned that both military as well as humanitarian actors are not eager to share information with one another (Maiers et al., 2005; Metcalfe et al., 2012). Furthermore, it has been mentioned that both entities have different languages and incompatible databases. Different meanings are attached to the same terms and a different jargon is being used (Barry and Jefferys, 2002; James, 2003). Both issues are related to the aforementioned cultural differences between both actors.

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about one another’s activities and will therefore be less in each other’s way (Rietjens et al, 2009). Aside from this, effective communication is believed to be one way of overcoming the many problems, as portrayed previously in this chapter, that are being faced within civil-military interaction (Bollen, 2002; Rietjens et al., 2009).

Although communicational and information management issues have been mentioned by many, there have only been a few researchers who specifically focus on this topic (Maynard, 2001; Verlaan, 2006; Rietjens et al., 2009; Ooms and van den Heuvel, 2012; Zyck, 2013). Zyck and, Ooms and van den Heuvel focused mainly on the issue of information exchange through databases, whilst the others paid most attention to communicational issues within several case studies. Rietjens et al., for example, provided a comprehensive study concerning information management between several NGOs and the military in Afghanistan (2009). The scarce number of studies done on information management and communication alone is enough reason to increase the amount of research on this important topic. Verlaan also acknowledged this and stated that more case studies are necessary within other peace support operations in order to verify the result out of these studies (2006), which has also been argued by Rietjens and Bollen (2008). Furthermore more research on this topic might enhance, as argued above, the efficiency and security of both entities, and thus is a start for overcoming the issues that have been identified within the CMI literature.

1.2.4. Side note: Internal differences and external similarities

It is however extremely important to notice that the distinction between military and humanitarian actors is not as black and white as portrayed above. There are similarities between both entities, but there also differences within each entity internally. You will for instance find idealist and adrenaline junkies on both sides of the spectrum. Most importantly, it is necessary to be aware that the ‘civil’ within CMI is not a homogenous group.

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actors (Wortel, 2009). But there are also organizations that uphold a more pragmatic view and decide whether or not to cooperate with the military depending on the context (Frerks et al., 2006).

Although many military organizations have a similar hierarchical organizational structure there are also many differences to be found. There will for instance be differences in ways in which operations are being conducted between armies of different nationalities (Scheltinga et al., 2005). Within each army there are furthermore also differences between individuals with regards to functions and tasks. An artillerist would probably have less affinity in working with civil actors than somebody working for a CIMIC battalion.

It is important to keep in mind the internal differences and external commonalities of both entities. In order to better understand the specific characteristics of the main entities that are being dealt with in this research, it is now time to elaborate on CMI within peacekeeping and within the Dutch army.

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1.3. CMI within UN peacekeeping missions

When looking into the type of military missions that are usually being dealt with in CMI research, it is striking that most publications have focused on the recent Iraq and Afghanistan cases (Metcalfe et al., 2012). These operations, of which the former was led by a coalition of the willing and the latter by NATO, have probably gained so much attention due to the intense involvement of the military in the humanitarian domain (Donini, 2009). There are, however, many other case studies focussing specifically on UN peacekeeping missions, such as the United Nations Mission In the republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) (Gregorian and Olson, 2007; Frerks et al., 2006; Fenton and Loughna, 2013). Fenton and Loughna for instance found out that there was only sporadic interaction between the peacekeeping mission and humanitarian actors in South Sudan, whilst the situation was more positive in Liberia (2013).

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approach. This integrated approach, which was introduced in 1979 by the Secretary-General and has been further developed since, emphasises a ‘higher degree of coherence’ among UN entities, which in short means that UN peacekeeping, political, developmental and humanitarian actors are more integrated (Metcalfe et al., 2011, p. 9). This has been highly contested by the humanitarian actors (UN agencies and NGOs), because they fear that integration will blur the lines between humanitarian and the politically-motivated peacekeeping actors, and thus have an effect on the humanitarians’ impartiality and neutrality, and in consequence, security (Metcalfe et al., 2012; Jasper and Moreland, 2015). People in favour of the integrated approach highlight that engagement of humanitarian actors is necessary and that there is no strong evidence for the assumption that integration hampers effective humanitarian action (Metcalfe et al., 2012). The integrated approach discussion can be seen as a more specific part of the discussion concerning the humanitarian principles as outlined in ‘1.2. Issues within CMI research’.

In relation to this De Coning has stated that the relationship between UN military and humanitarian actors in UN peacekeeping is much more cooperative (2007a). There is however not much evidence confirming this assertion. Within the consulted literature, the bulk of literature focuses on humanitarian NGOs, and to a lesser extent on humanitarian UN agencies. There have not been many articles that focus solely on the relationship between UN peacekeeping actors and humanitarian UN agencies, and even less attention has been placed on the interaction between UN military and other non-humanitarian civil UN entities. Thus, there seems to be a need for more research on UN-internal CMI. De Coning has also highlighted this, when saying that “the humanitarian-military interface is only one of the several civil-military relationships” (De Coning, 2007a, p. 89). Within a peacekeeping mission for instance, there are several civil sub-sections like a Human Rights Division and Civil Affairs. De Coning furthermore wondered if a different set of guidelines is needed for non-humanitarian UN entities. Rolfe has focused on other civil UN entities when looking at the issue of Protection of Civilians (PoC) within UN peacekeeping (2011). PoC ideally is executed by military, police and civil actors. Rolfe found out that there are still many problems in this regard. Ramjoué did something similar, but focused on the Join Mission Analysis Centre (JMAC) and its internal civil-military interaction (2011). He found out that this interaction is strained in several missions.

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see if the same issues occur between non-humanitarian civil UN and the military, as within the humanitarian-military interaction.

1.4. Relevant gaps within CMI research

Within the previous paragraphs of this chapter several research gaps have been mentioned. This paragraph will recapitulate these gaps and will furthermore explain that this research deals with these gaps by focusing on civil-military communication issues within an UN peacekeeping mission:

 Within the literature review of Metcalfe et al. on civil-military coordination it was emphasised that the bulk of literature focused on conceptual issues, like the discussion on humanitarian principles (2012). They acknowledged however that there has been a lack of research on CMI in practice, specifically within the light of current developments towards integrated approaches and international interventions and how this impacts humanitarian outcomes.

 A topic that has been mentioned by many scholars in CMI research is communication and information management. Effective communication might be the way to overcome the many hurdles that are to be found within CMI. Although many have acknowledged that communication is problematic, not much specific research has been done on this topic. Therefore follow-up research on the article of Rietjens et al. (2009) seems necessary.  Furthermore, it has been found that the main attention of CMI research has been on the

Iraq and Afghanistan cases. Although an increase on CMI within UN peacekeeping was determined, the bulk of the research still focuses on the relationship between the military and humanitarian NGOs. Therefore it is necessary to focus on the relationship between the military and other civil UN entities within UN peacekeeping. To some extent, this has already been investigated with regards to the relationship between humanitarian UN agencies and UN military, but specific research on UN internal CMI has been rare. Even less research has been done on the relationship between UN military and non-humanitarian civil UN entities.

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2. A theory of civil-military communication

“Communication is fundamental to human existence. It is a continuous process and essential to all human activities.”

(Agarwal, 2010, p.1)

After having identified that there is currently a need for research on communication between military actors and civil actors within UN integrated missions, it is now time to elaborate on what effective communication between civil and military actors specifically entails. This chapter gives an overview of relevant theoretical literature on civil-military communication. It will give an overview of theories of ‘communication’, which are of value for civil-military communication, and will conclude with a theoretical cadre that defines effective communication within civil-military interaction. This cadre is then used to investigate the Gao-case.

2.1. Civil-military communication and information management

Although it has, as argued earlier, been mentioned by many researchers that communication, and the act of information-sharing, is a problem within civil-military interaction, not much research has been done with civil-military communication as its main topic (the ones found are: Maynard, 2001; Rietjens et al., 2009; Ooms and van den Heuvel, 2012; Zyck, 2013). Of the literature dealing with this topic, only Rietjens et al. came up with a useful theoretical framework of information management, which was applied to a case study of ISAF and humanitarian organizations in Afghanistan (2009). This theoretical framework will form the basis for the framework that is being used within this thesis.

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communication (2009). This has also been argued by others, who state that internal communication shapes external communication (Sutcliffe, 2001; Yang and Maxwell, 2011).

Figure 1 The information management framework

Source: Rietjens et al., 2009

The first three stages in the information management process have to do with internal information management. As Sutcliffe put it, information is “essential” for the survival of an organization, and thus every organization has a need for information (2001, p. 197). The information needs of each actor are defined by its mission, tasks and goals. When the needs are clear, information is collected internally and externally, after which the information is organized, stored and developed into information products. In the fourth stage the actual interaction takes place between the two entities with the sharing of information, followed by the last stage in which the information is used and evaluated (Rietjens et al., 2009).

The sequence of the framework can however be criticized, since information sharing is already taking place at the third stage with collecting needed information externally. Furthermore, it now seems like information products are solely produced for the sake of sharing information, whilst the goal of the information sharing is the fulfilment of the information needs of each entity. The use and evaluation of information is now visualised as a common effort, whilst this probably is done by each entity separately. At first glance it thus seems more logical to put the fourth step before the third step, and to alter the last two steps. Lastly, communication and thus information exchange, might also take place in other stages of information management. Organizations can for instance communicate about each other’s information needs. Therefore, some amendments to the information management framework of Rietjens et al. have been made (see figure 2).

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but also send out information. This has also been emphasized by Yang and Maxwell who said that information exchange requires a ‘compensation’ (2011).

Figure 2 Adapted information management framework

Source: Adaptation of framework used by Rietjens et al., 2009.

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2.2. Communication in general

As with many other terms in the academic world, there are differences to be found for the definition of communication (Rodriques, 2000). According to the Oxford dictionary for instance, communication means the following: “The imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium” (Oxforddictionaries.com, 2015). A much cited definition of communication, drafted by Peter Little, seems more suitable for the purpose of this thesis. Little defined communication as: “(…) the process by which information is transmitted between individuals and/or organizations so that an understanding response results” (1977). The big advantage of Little’s definition is that it already takes communication as something happening between organizations, which is in line with the subject of this thesis. Furthermore, Little’s definition refers to information exchange, which coincides with the altered information management framework (as has shown in figure 2). Lastly, Little’s definition is of value because it speaks of a process of communication. This basic communicational process, as can be found in any handbook on communication, consists of a sender, who sends out a message through a certain channel (e.g. by speech, e-mail, etc.), and of a receiver who receives the message (Cleary et al., 2008; Agarwal, 2010). The sender encodes his/her message, which means that he or she puts the information that needs to be communicated into a certain form. The receiver in turn decodes the message, which means that he/she interprets the message of the sender. The receiver in the end provides feedback towards the sender (Cleary et al., 2008; Agarwal, 2010), in which in fact the process starts all-over, with the receiver being the new sender. Successfully completing the communication means that the receiver understands the message of the sender. A simplified schematic overview of the communication process can be found in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Communication process

Source: author

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reason for communication is used because we want to influence others in order to change their behaviour or attitudes. Within persuasion, however, information is still transferred from one person to the other. This thesis will however mainly focus on information within communication.

2.3. Barriers to effective communication

It is crucial for communication to be effective. The receiver needs to understand the message that is being sent by the sender, as is highlighted by other scholars and within Little’s definition (Little, 1977; Gudykunst, 2014). Agarwal gives a useful addition by stating that effective communication occurs when “the meaning generated by one person gets smoothly transferred to the others with a minimum of interference or distortion” (2010). In order to describe effective communication it is thus necessary to explain what ‘interference’ and ‘distortion’ means, or in other words, what ineffective communication entails. Understanding, interference and distortion within effective communication are however not clearly incorporated within the adapted information management framework.

Within the communication process many things can go wrong. This is commonly referred to as a ‘communication barrier’. A communication barrier can be present in any stage of the communication process. The sender might for instance encode the information wrongly: he or she might use language or jargon that is not understandable for the receiver. The channel might also cause problems: a poor telephone connection can for instance hamper effective communication. The receiver might also make a mistake in decoding, by for example interpreting the message wrongly. Lastly, the situational context can also cause problems, for instance when there is too much noise at the place where the communication takes place.

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2.4. Inter-organizational and civil-military communication barriers

Communication does not only, as portrayed above, take place between two individuals but also occurs between and within groups, organizations and countries (Rosengren, 2000). This adds on to the complexity of the communication process. Since not much research has been done within civil-military interaction specifically focussing on communication, it seems useful to also look at related fields of research, such as inter-organizational, inter-group, inter-agency and inter-cultural communication. Although the Dutch military and the civil UN entities all act under the umbrella of the United Nations in Gao, they are fairly different and independent entities, with their own organizational structure (Unsceb.org, 2015). The Dutch army and the several civil UN entities are therefore seen as different organizations, which makes this thesis in essence a case of inter-organizational communication. The research will however keep referring to entities, in order not to confuse the reader.

Effective inter-organizational communication has been highlighted within the field of organizational studies as key for an organization’s effectiveness, because it leads to informed decision-making (Kreps, 1990; Sutcliffe, 2001; Kapacu, 2006). Several general barriers to inter-organizational communication have been mentioned within the consulted literature, which impede effective communication.2_{Furthermore, literature on civil-military interaction has} provided a scattered and disorganized amount of more specific communication barriers. These barriers will in this thesis be classified according to the aforementioned categories in ‘2.3. Barriers to effective communication’ (i.e. linguistic, psycho-social and physical/mechanical barriers). It must however been mentioned that all barriers are inter-related and sometimes overlapping.

Concerning linguistic barriers, several authors have mentioned that the lack of knowledge of each other’s languages, and more specifically the use of jargon, is hampering effective inter-organizational communication (Gudykunst, 2004; Yang and Maxwell, 2011). This has also come forth out of literature concerning civil-military interaction, in which organizational jargon was mentioned as a specific issue. For instance regarding the many acronyms that are used within military circles (Barry and Jefferys, 2002; James, 2003; Scheltinga et al., 2005; Zyck, 2013).

The most important factor within psycho-social barriers that has often been highlighted within the consulted inter-organizational literature is differences in culture (Granot, 1999;

2_{Communicational barriers have also been taken from related literature concerning: inter-cultural, inter-group}

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Gudykunst, 2004; Griffith and Harvey, 2011; Yang and Maxwell, 2013). Organizational culture has a high impact upon the external communication of an organization. The more the cultures of two organizations differ, the more difficult it is to establish effective communication (Griffith and Harvey, 2001), since each culture provides different norms and rules of communication (Gudykunst, 2004). Furthermore the perception of the other within the own (organizational) culture can lead to mistrust, which can lead to, for instance, wrong attitudes and stereotyping (idem.). Within civil-military literature, the great distinction between civil and military culture and the subsequent distrust has also gained much attention (Scheltinga et al., 2005; Wheeler and Harmer, 2006; Rietjens et al., 2009; Fenton and Loughna, 2013; Metcalfe et al, 2012; Ooms and van den Heuvel, 2012). One specific part of the culture of civil organizations has also been mentioned, the humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality, which leads to an unwillingness to communication amongst humanitarian civil actors (Rietjens et al., 2009). Additionally, it has been stated by Gregorian and Olson that effective interaction highly depends on the personalities of people communicating (2007). In other words, if the people in question like each other, communication is more likely to be effective.

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2.5. A theoretical framework of civil-military communication

The above-mentioned barriers within civil-military inter-organization communication have been included within the altered information management framework of Rietjens et al. (2009) (see Figure 4). The information exchange part within that framework has been enlarged.

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3. Methodology

This chapter explains how the research concerning the communication between the Dutch military and civil UN entities has been done. It explains the choices that have been made during the research process regarding the research design, such as choosing the case and prospective interviewees. Furthermore, it explains the ethical considerations that have been contemplated.

3.1. Research approach and design

The research approach for answering the main question will be qualitative in nature, since it is often used for understanding a phenomenon like inter-organizational communication (Taylor and Trujilo, 2001; Wellington and Szczerbiński, 2007). Although communication can also be studied with a quantitative approach, understanding the reasons for ineffective or effective communication is rather something that is best approached in a qualitative manner. Furthermore the qualitative approach has been frequently used within the field of civil-military interaction research (Rietjens, 2014) and in civil-military communication research (Rietjens et al., 2009). The research design will be a case study of the interaction between civil UN entities and the Dutch military in Gao. The case study design has been chosen because, as identified within the first chapter, there is a lack of practical research on civil-military communication, and a case study lends itself perfectly for practical research. Furthermore, the case study design is often used to explore certain topics which have not been intensively researched before, as is the case with the topic of this research (Eisenhardt, 1989). Of course, deciding on just a single case has its limitations. The findings presented in this research are for instance not necessarily applicable to other cases of civil-military communication. But as there is a scarcity of research within this topic, it is necessary to acquire more case-specific findings before more general findings on civil-military communication can be generalized.

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place of residence. Thirdly and lastly, the choice has been informed by the already existing contacts with the Dutch army of the researcher and his supervisors. Although it was not exactly clear at the start of the research how many civil UN entities were involved in interaction with the Dutch ISR company, there were clear indications of a high level of interaction between these entities during exploratory talks with Dutch military personnel. The choice of civil UN entities was thus informed by the existing contacts of the Dutch ISR-coy with these entities. The previous findings on civil-military communication that have been found in the consulted literature are highly comparable on a generic level with the findings as presented in this research, which gives indication that this case is not atypical, and thus the findings of this research are probably also applicable for other instances of civil-military communication.

3.2. Methods & instruments

The answer to the main research question is mainly based on primary data that has been obtained through semi-structured interviews with personnel of the Dutch military and civil UN entities that have been active in civil-military communication in the Gao region. To a limited extent, this research also made use of secondary data, such as documents and reports related to CMI within MINUSMA. This data has been acquired through the interviewees, the thesis supervisors and through the MINUSMA website.3 Furthermore already existing literature on MINUSMA has been used to understand the context of civil-military communication in Gao.

The reasons for choosing the semi-structured interview method are the following: Firstly, direct observation of civil-military communication was not possible, due to the inaccessibility of the Gao region and limited financial means. Interviews are a perfect alternative for observation, since they are highly illustrative in comparison with other research methods (Gillham, 2000). Secondly, interviews are widely used, and therefore seem to be an appropriate method within civil-military research (Rietjens, 2014). Because this research depends on peoples’ perceptions on communication, open-ended questions are preferable, rather than closed questions, which are used in questionnaires, as they allow more room for explanation. The interviews are semi-structured because this form of interviews is assumed to be the most valuable form interviewing (Wellington and Szczerbiński, 2007). A specific set of questions is asked to every interviewee, but, depending on the answers, the interviewer has the possibility to ask additional questions of interest.

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Preferably the interviews were conducted face-to-face, as this often gives you a much broader amount of information. This was however not always possible due to limits in mobility of the researcher, and because of the time and availability of the interviewees. Therefore interviews that were conducted with people residing outside The Netherlands have mostly been conducted through telephone or Skype. Lastly, a few interviews have been conducted through e-mail exchange. Acquiring data through these communication devices has its limitations, because for instance facial expressions are not visible and because of Internet or phone connection issues.

Two interview guides have been used when conducting the interviews, one tailored for the military in Dutch and one in English with specific questions for civil UN entities. The interviews had an average length of 50 minutes each.4 The questions within the interview guide have been based on the theoretical framework as portrayed in chapter 2 (A theory of civil-military communication), in order to acquire relevant data. After a few introductory questions about the function and background of each interviewee, questions related to external organizational information needs were asked, followed by questions related to the actual civil-military communication. The interviewees were asked how they have perceived the communication between the Dutch military and civil UN entities and if any problems have occurred. The interviewer however had the opportunity to ask additional questions depending on the answers of the respondents. It was tried not to ask steering questions, but neutral open-ended questions. The two interview guides can be found in Annex A.

3.3. Sampling & analysis

As this research deals with a case study, the number of people that can be interviewed is limited. Furthermore not everyone within the Dutch ISR company and in the civil UN entities has been actively involved in the interaction. Therefore, the amount of prospective interviewees was limited. Non-probability sampling has been used in order to interview as many persons as possible who have been active in civil-military communication. In total 21 interviews were conducted, of which 13 with military personnel and 8 with employees of civil UN entities. The interviewees from the civil UN entities were personnel from civil MINUSMA entities and from UN agencies. Most of these persons were active in the Gao-region. Furthermore one person from ASIFU HQ and one person from UNOCHA in Bamako have been interviewed. The contacts with these persons were established through the researcher’s personal network and

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through the network of the supervisors. After the first few interviews, more contacts were established with the help of the already interviewed persons. Furthermore the interviews with the Dutch military have been conducted in Dutch, whilst the rest of the interviews were conducted in English.

Concerning the military, there have been four rotations so far. It was assumed beforehand that there are differences in civil-military communication between the different rotations. Therefore at least two persons per rotation have been interviewed. It was more difficult to speak with the fourth rotation, because these were still present in Mali. This problem also occurred with the civil UN entities. Civilians within UN mission rotate less regularly, and thus mainly people were interviewed who were still active in Mali. Employees have been interviewed from different sections within Sector Headquarter East and also with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Joint Mission Analysis Centre (JMAC). When doing interviews, one is always depending on the availability and willingness of the prospective interviewees. With humanitarian UN agencies this has been problematic, although persistence has to a great extent solved this problem. Despite the fact that some people from humanitarian agencies have been interviewed, the researcher would have liked to have more input from these agencies, in order to get a more representative picture. Probably more persons could have been interviewed if there was more time, but since the researcher had to adhere to a strict deadline this was not possible. It is believed however that sufficient data has been acquired and that the response rate was sufficient for the viability of the research. More information on the statistics of the interviews can be found in Annex B.

In order to disseminate findings out of the interviews, qualitative data analysis has been used. Most of the conducted interviews have been audio-recorded and subsequently transcribed by using the F4 transcribing program.5 This had to be done to make them analysable. The interviewees had the possibility to receive their transcribed interviews, on which they could make amendments and additions through e-mail. This measure was implemented as a ‘double-check’ for accurateness and as a way for the interviewees to add more information that they might not have given during the actual interview itself. The transcribed interviews have in turn been analysed by using the ATLAS.ti qualitative research computer program.6 For analysis of the conducted interviews a coding scheme was used which was mainly based on the theoretical framework (see annex C). After the coding was completed the findings as depicted within this

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thesis could be disseminated. To give an example all the information of the ISR-coy’s interaction with UNOCHA could be retrieved by looking at parts that have been coded with ‘Interaction with UNOCHA’. Differences could be found by also looking into the codes related to the different rotations of the ISR-coy. Through this way a network analysis have been made of the external civil UN contacts of the ISR-coy. Another example is the different forms of communication barriers that occurred, which have been coded with ‘Communication barrier.’ Because the bulk of the questions have been asked to every interviewee a general line concerning civil-military communication could be identified.

3.4. Ethical considerations

In order to make this research ethically justifiable, several measures were taken. When contacting prospective interviewees, information was given about the goal and content of the interview. Before asking questions during the actual interview, this information was repeated. In the face-to-face interviews the interviewees were asked to sign a consent form in which the privacy regulations and issues like audio-recording were treated. Within other interviews this happened through oral agreement. In order to evaluate the interview itself it was possible for the interviewee to ask questions concerning the research at the end of each interview.

Due to privacy reasons, it was decided that names of the interviewees were not to be listed in the thesis and that only the organizations of the interviewees will be named. Some civil interviewees, however, did not agree with naming their organization, therefore these interviewees are referred to as ‘civil UN employees’. It is furthermore important to know that the perspective of the interviewees does not necessarily represent the views of their respective organizations. The transcribed interviews are not attached to this thesis, because they consist too much information related to privacy. These transcriptions have been consulted by the thesis supervisors for verification.

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4. The MINUSMA mission in Gao

This chapter provides the context that is needed for understanding civil-military communication within the MINUSMA case. It starts broadly with describing civil-military interaction within UN peacekeeping. This is followed by a short history and outline of the MINUSMA mission. Furthermore, a short elaboration on the CMI within the MINUSMA mission on country-level is given. The civil and military UN entities that are involved in the case are in the next paragraphs described. With regards to the theoretical framework these descriptions thus deal with the mission, tasks and goals of the different entities, which determine the information needs. The information on the different entities has to a great extent been obtained through relevant academic literature and the websites of each entity. Some information on the specific outlines of these entities in Gao has also been obtained through the conducted interviews. Lastly, a simplified organogram is depicted which clarifies the way in which the entities are connected through the UN organization.

4.1. UN peacekeeping and CMI

UN peacekeeping has changed tremendously over time. Its outlook before the nineties mainly consisted of military forces being the intermediate between two conflicting parties, in which they monitored ceasefires and did not have a mandate to use force (Rehse, 2004). After this period UN peacekeeping missions changed radically. Not only did UN military receive allowance to use force, but the missions themselves also became multi-dimensional. This means in practice that the traditional peacekeeping tasks are extended with political, economic, developmental and humanitarian ones (Jasper and Moreland, 2015). These tasks within the mission are to a great extent performed by civil UN entities, such as humanitarian UN agencies and specifically tasked offices in the mission, like Political Affairs (Rehse, 2004; Jasper and Moreland, 2015).

The organizational structure of a UN mission is headed by a civil ‘Special Representative of the Secretary General’ (SRSG). Under his or her command several dimensions of UN peacekeeping can be found (Jasper and Moreland, 2015). Often the mission area is divided into different sectors, the so-called sector headquarters (HQs). These sector HQs usually have the same sort of structure as the general peacekeeping HQ. The basic structure of an UN mission is depicted in Figure 5.

Civil-military communications within integrated United Nations Peacekeeping