I. Mass Atrocity Response Operations: A Military Planning Handbook  

The centerpiece of the MARO Project is the newly revised Mass Atrocity Response Operations: A Military Planning Handbook, which was launched May 5, 2010. More in-depth description of the concepts covered in the Handbook can be found here.

Mass Atrocity Response Operations: A Military Planning Handbook explains why MAROs present unique operational challenges and provides framing and planning tools to prepare the military. While primarily intended for military planners, it is also useful for policymakers and other non-military readers interested in the prevention of and military response to mass atrocities. It compares and contrasts MAROs to other types of military operations, explores the specific dynamics of mass atrocity, and outlines the operational and political implications of an intervention to stop attacks upon civilians. The Handbook provides a guide to identify key aspects of a particular MARO environment, frame the problem holistically, develop response options, and design a comprehensive operational concept.

The Handbook is a living document and will continue to benefit from on-going thinking about and exercising of these concepts. The Handbook is not is a specific, prescriptive plan, nor is it a political decision-making guide for the national leadership. Except in those cases where a military force finds itself in an operation that unexpectedly devolves into other parties’ widespread slaughter of civilians, a MARO decision will be deliberate. The decision to conduct a MARO is made by political leaders, whose guidance may be vague and contradictory amidst a fluid situation. In such cases, planners should not hesitate to go back to political authorities to validate interpretations of the mission. The MARO Handbook should facilitate such a dialogue.

Part I of the Handbook explains how a MARO is a specific type of operation involving a dynamic mix of offense, defense, and stability operations. Many of the tasks and qualities of a MARO can resemble those found in other kinds of operations; however, the fact that the tasks and concepts are familiar reveals little about the dramatically different context in which those tasks must be performed.  The Handbook details the three main distinctions of a MARO context. There are then eight key operational and political implications of these three distinguishing characteristics.

Part II of the Handbook shows how these specificities can be integrated into a typical US military planning process, the Joint Operational Planning Process (JOPP). While this is US-focused, it can also serve as a reference for military planners from other nations, intergovernmental organizations, and for other interested readers.  The Handbook walks through the Mission Analysis, Course of Action Development, and Plan Design and Implementation process.

At the request of military planners, the Handbook also includes several annexes that breaks down into more details MARO-related definitions, task lists, potential Flexible Deterrent Options, assumptions, sample critical factors analyses, and lists further resources and contacts.

 II. Table Top Exercises & Scenarios

In order to test the concepts within the Handbook and train planners how to prepare for a MARO, the Project commissioned the development of a tabletop exercise that was piloted with crisis action and deliberate planning cells at US European Command (EUCOM) in January 2010. With the support of Mission Essential Personnel (MEP) Chief Executive Officer, Chris Taylor, the MEP staff will continue to refine and tailor new exercises to meet the education and training needs of the US military and other partners. EUCOM’s positive response to the concept, Handbook, and tabletop exercise affirmed our efforts to date. The Project aims to hold additional exercises with other Combatant Commands in the future.

III. Advocacy and Outreach

To complement the work that the Project is doing with the military planning community, we are also doing additional outreach with others to promote the development of official guidance directing the US military and others to prepare for a potential mass atrocity intervention. Over the past two years, we have been holding conferences, seminars, and briefings on MARO and mass atrocity intervention with a wide variety of audiences including with the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon, the National Security Council, military exercises such as Unified Quest and Global Scout, NGO's, the UN and others. More information on these presentations can be found here.

The Project also has had fruitful collaboration with key organizations and initiatives such as the Future of Peacekeeping Operations Project at the Stimson Center and the Genocide Prevention Task Force, co-chaired by Madeleine Albright and William Cohen.

One indication of the growing recognition within the US government of the importance of the issue of mass atrocities can be found on page vi of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, released in February 2010:

Not all contingencies will require the involvement of U.S. military forces, but the Defense Department must be prepared to provide the President with options across a wide range of contingencies, which include supporting a response to an attack or natural disaster at home, defeating aggression by adversary states, supporting and stabilizing fragile states facing serious internal threats, and preventing human suffering due to mass atrocities or large-scale natural disasters abroad. (emphasis added)