War Termination: Setting Conditions for Peace

Abstract : Wars need to have clear political ends with complementary war termination strategies defined at the beginning of hostilities that can be refined over the continuum of war. War termination, from the victor's point of view, has been defined as the last stage in a war once basic political objectives of the war are within reach. War termination can also be viewed as the transition from war to peace. A successful war termination strategy is important in the short-term sense of minimizing military and civilian casualties and loss of human life while meeting political objectives, but also in the long-term sense of terminating war with an eye towards shaping a lasting peace. To facilitate informed policy making for war termination, it is important to understand the concepts of war termination within the international, domestic, and individual levels of analysis framework. Viewing war termination through this framework will be useful in strengthening U.S. policy for war termination. Three key case studies -- World War I, the Vietnam War, and the 1991 Gulf War -- are examined to highlight historical linkages in war termination problems. An analysis of the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy, and the National Military Strategy is then performed to determine any gaps in U.S. policy on war termination. Joint doctrine and Joint Publications 3-0 and 5-0 also are examined for war termination gaps.