The Practice and Politics of Security Force Assistance
Nick Lopez and Kyle Atwell | 11.20.20
When, why, and under what circumstances does security force assistance (SFA) work? Episode 14 of the Irregular Warfare Podcast focuses on best practices of SFA, along with challenges, realistic expectations, and the role it will play for the United States in an era of great power competition with guests Dr. Mara Karlin and Brig. Gen. Scott Jackson.
Dr. Karlin argues that SFA is naturally a political endeavor and that third-party actors cannot be ignored. Her findings are complemented by Brig. Gen. Jackson’s perspective from thirty years of active duty Army service, including standing up the first of the US Army’s new security force assistance brigades (SFABs) before taking his current role as commander of the Security Force Assistance Command. He details the characteristics of good advisors, how the SFABs are approaching the mission of SFA, and the balance between tactical and institutional advising of partner forces.
Dr. Karlin is the director of the Strategic Studies Program and associate professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She has served in various national security roles for five US secretaries of defense, most recently as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development. She is the author of the book Building Militaries and Fragile States: Challenges for the United States, which serves as the foundation for the conversation. Her next book, The Inheritance: America’s Military After Two Decades of War, is set to be released in February 2021.
https://mwi.usma.edu/the-practice-and-politics-of-security-force-assistance/
