The Inter-Agency: Is There a Solution to the Madness?

Reconstruction, stabilization, humanitarian and disaster relief require a collective effort from all instruments of power. Success will be determined based on how current structures are physically and authoritatively re-organized to support complex operations. Leadership, organization, systems and processes, combined with cultural tension, have shown that the interagency process is in need of significant improvement. The dilemma in which the USG finds itself is not a recent development. For decades there has been a constant struggle for power in the federal system Presidents have issued directives and mandates in an attempt to consolidate the executive agencies however, existing policy is ambiguous and unclear. In addition to this lack of clarity, management, oversight and enforcement are non-existent. In order to create a true Whole of Government response, leaders, peers and subordinates of all executive agencies must be aware that a system thatis flexible, adaptable and efficient, led by one decision-making authority at the NSC level is the only course of action to attain an acceptable system as it relates to reconstruction and stabilization. This paper highlights these areas as key issues that must be strengthened in order to achieve an acceptable interagency system. This paper also uses a case study to illustrate that these areas significantly affect operations at the strategic, operational and tactical levels thus providing clear evidence of the failed state of the interagency. Solving the interagency problem will require detailed analysis that leads to clear and concise legislative mandates that direct agencies to consolidate into a joint concept working, training, and deploying under a consolidated integrated operational structure. In order to achieve success, internal governmental changes must be made to the interagency in the areas of leadership, structure, systems and relationships.