The Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. What's it really all about?

Photo By William Goodwin | DKI APCSS Advance Security Cooperation 18-1 Group Photo  

UNITED STATES

06.14.2018

Courtesy Story

Daniel K Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies

On day one, the instructors had us write down what we hoped to get out of the five-week course. My answer was simple: new relationships with my 107 security practitioner classmates, or Fellows. After spending 20 years living and working throughout Asia with the Department of Defense, I've come to learn that relationships are the key...to everything. If you want to get something done, you can only go so far with an email or phone call or one-off conference. Relationships built over time and nurtured, on the other hand, open doors to places that we never knew existed. There is no doubt that by the end of the course I had achieved that goal, and then some.

So was that it? That’s what I got out of DKI APCSS? I received great academic instruction and made new connections? Of course those things alone would have been enough to satisfy anyone’s expectations, but there was actually more to it than that.

Fellows in the course came from all around the world, although the majority of my classmates were from the US Pacific Command area of responsibility. Indo-Asia-Pacific. Different cultures, religions, politics, alliances and beliefs were all thrown into the mix. As one would expect in the beginning, we were "feeling each other out" and holding back our true thoughts and opinions. At week five, it was a different story. By that point we had spent hundreds of hours discussing the intricacies of security cooperation in plenary, small groups, exercises, and role-playing scenarios. More important, I would argue, was the time spent outside of the classroom: sitting on a lanai discussing families, playing volleyball together at the beach, sharing dinners, dancing, laughing, and of course debating the real-world security issues that keep our leaders awake at night. I can assure the reader that by the end of an DKI APCSS course nobody is holding back opinions, disagreements, or questions. This bonding doesn't happen by accident. It's a carefully managed process that the leadership, staff and faculty have perfected through trial and error since the Center opened its doors in 1995.

Still, what's the point? By middle age many people have experienced some enlightening journey that brought them closer to others. For a family it could be a tragic incident. For the college student it's the molding together of young strangers who often go on to be lifelong friends. In the military it’s basic training, or the connection that only wartime camaraderie can create. So what's so special about the DKI APCSS experience? It sounds like just another bonding event, right?

Wrong.

Bear with me as I briefly describe an exercise we took part in toward the end of the course. My fellow classmates and I participated in a "prisoner's dilemma" scenario, where one small group was pitted against another small group with physical separation between them. The test was to see if two completely rational groups might not cooperate with each other, even if it appears that it is in their best interests to do so. There were several rounds of decision-making needed to figure out the next move of each group. DKI APCSS threw in a twist, however. After a few rounds of decisions made in isolation, we were allowed to go to a neutral area and negotiate with the competitor group. Our "negotiators" met and promised to cooperate unless one group gave the other a reason not to trust them anymore. The negotiators looked each other in the eye, shook hands, and went back to their home groups to report results and decide on the next move. The groups could have disregarded what was agreed upon in negotiations and tried to out-maneuver the competition. The negotiators, however, had a personal stake in this. They had traveled outside their group, met a representative from the opposition, made an agreement and gave their word that they would cooperate. The negotiators encouraged their groups to adhere to the agreements. From that point forward, every subsequent round of negotiations and the decisions that followed resulted in cooperation, keeping our word, and sticking to agreed-upon norms and behavior. The outcome was stability and prosperity for all involved.

I didn't think much about it at the time, but if I had an "aha moment" at DKI APCSS, it was during the prisoner's dilemma scenario. Not that I hadn't conducted similar exercises before. Years ago I designed a math model for an insurgency that demonstrated why it would be in the best interest of both the government and insurgents in a particular country to cooperate with each other rather than continue fighting. Along similar lines, I had observed, analyzed, and participated in regional security conferences, symposiums, and summits around Asia for decades noting the importance of cooperation. We all know that working together toward a common goal is a good thing, but I never took the time to really ask what it is about regional forums in Asia that has helped maintain peace, or more effective security cooperation, or at least an absence of regional conflict, for 70 years? The answer to this and all of the other questions asked throughout this paper is the same, and it's simple: Trust.

Trust built through meaningful relationships. I trust the negotiator from Country A that I'm shaking hands with because I have met her many times before, I know her and she knows me, and we have both kept our word by adhering to internationally-accepted standards and norms. I trust the regional forum representative from Country B because I have worked through difficult problems with him for years at various summits, and we have always been transparent and honest with each other despite the tension between our nations. I trust the Chief of Defense from Country C because we have conducted exchange training together for 30 years, and I supported his countrymen after an earthquake devastated their homeland two years ago. You get the idea.

Now, I trust my DKI APCSS classmates because I spent five weeks of my life with them, sharing my perspectives and values and vulnerabilities (including my lack of dancing skills). The difference is that these are not college classmates who I will only see on Facebook or at reunions. My Fellows, who I share a common bond with, who I have a mutual understanding with, who I have a professional relationship with, who I trust, are the people I will now engage on the high-stakes stage of regional security cooperation, thanks to this very special institution.

The mission of DKI APCSS is to "Educate, Connect, and Empower."

But if one asks how they actually accomplish the mission so successfully, the answer is that they build trust. That's what it's really all about.

J.C. "Lumpy" Lumbaca is a US Army Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) and graduate of the DKI-APCSS Advanced Security Cooperation Course 18-1.

• Date Taken: 06.14.2018
• Date Posted: 06.15.2018 23:11
• Story ID: 281216
• Location: US