THE NATIONAL GUARD STATE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM: IMPROVING SECURITY COOPERATION IN COUNTERTERRORISM AND HUMANITARIAN CRISIS RESPONSE

This thesis assesses the U.S. National Guard State Partnership Program through a review of three partnerships: West Virginia National Guard-Qatar, Colorado National Guard-Jordan, and Massachusetts National Guard-Kenya. The partnerships are first analyzed within a national security and military doctrinal framework for security cooperation in counterterrorism and humanitarian crisis response. Then, they are evaluated based on an academic framework regarding counterterrorism and military humanitarian assistance. The two frameworks provide a holistic picture of the program’s efficacy and areas of improvement. This thesis argues that the program, as conducted within the partnerships evaluated, provides an effective means to pursue counterterrorism and humanitarian crisis management security cooperation objectives. The program is successful overall due to the stability and longevity of relationships nurtured within the partnerships, but also for more nuanced reasons that account for the inherent contradictions between providing aid and bilateral assistance. The program can be improved to meet doctrine by diversifying participants in engagements and topics for engagement, in order to better address the complex relationship between terrorism and humanitarian crisis. However, care must be taken to avoid expanding the program unduly in order to avoid incentivizing partner-nation behavior that creates conditions that increase the likelihood of terrorism and humanitarian crises.Captain, United States Air ForceApproved for public release. distribution is unlimite