Col. Brian M. Rees (Abstract). The Application of Strategic Stress Management in Winning the Peace. In the proceeding of the “International Conference on Armed Forces & Conflict Resolution in a Globalized World” July 14 – 17, 2008, Seoul, Korea, Session 12, p. 87.
Session 12: Military Operations other than War
Abstract:
The Application of Strategic Stress Management in Winning the Peace
Although the US is preeminent in maneuver warfare, success in current (and probable future) counterinsurgency operations is hampered by the infectious ideology of the enemy. But the stress and frustration necessary to fuel the insurgency and Islamist terrorism are enemy critical vulnerabilities.
Strategic Stress Management (SSM), in the form of groups of persons practicing a meditative technique called the TM-Sidhi Program, can be applied to reduce hostilities in targeted populations. The underlying hypothesis is that consciousness is a field, and that effects generated in the field of consciousness can affect the brain chemistry, the thinking and the subsequent behavior of potential belligerents who are not engaged in or even aware of the practice. This hypothesis has been tested in over fifty studies that have documented reductions in combat deaths, crime, and terrorist acts related to the size of the groups practicing the intervention.
As a prospective Course of Action (COA), SSM is suitable and feasible, and readily distinguishable from virtually any other COA. However, it is unorthodox, and its acceptability is uncertain.
[ Editors Note: Col. Brian Rees, M.D. previously gave a similar presentation at the United States Army War College. See:
Proteus Futures Digest First Edition
A Compilation of Selected Works Derived from the 2006 Proteus Workshop
Compiled and Edited by John Auger and William Wimbish
The Proteus Management Group Proteus Futures Digest
A Compilation of Selected Works Derived from the 2006 Proteus Workshop First Edition
The Proteus Management Group
Sponsored by: The National Intelligence University, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Executive Agent: United States Army War College
A PDF containing this paper (Pages 265 to 281) is available on their website at: http://www.carlisle.army.mil/proteus/docs/Workshop-digest-2006.pdf
An HTML version containing just Col. Rees’s paper is also available online at:
http://www.istpp.org/military_science/Col_Rees_Masters_Paper.html ]
The abstract for this paper appeared in the Seoul National University & Korea Military Academy International Conference on Armed Forces &Conflict Resolution in a Globalized World, published by the International Sociological Association Research Committee 01
Other presentations: Combat Stress | Preventing Enemies |