Fiscal Year	2015
Division	Graduate School of Operational & Information Sciences
Department	Defense Analysis
Investigator(s)	Lipow, Jonathan Melich, Michael E. Fox, William P.
Sponsor	Office of Net Assessment (DoD)
Summary	The Resource Network Strategy (RNS) was first introduced in a MA thesis written by Maj. Ryan Hartwig while he was a student in the Defense Analysis program at the Naval Postgraduate School. As envisaged by Maj. Hartwig, the RNS would form a central element in NATO strategy in Afghanistan following the completion of the withdrawal of most coalition forces in/by the end of 2014. The RNS results from combining Village Support Operations with development of the mineral wealth of Afghanistan in accordance with national laws and customs. The work proposed here will address three central questions: Ql. How do you support a "devolved" governance strategy, that is, were more is done in the provinces and villages? Q2. Does one need and how do you provide "guidance and support" in a dispersed-governance "Afghanistan"? Q3. What problems will be faced by anyone attempting to provide "guidance and support", particularly the risk that the support team will become "targets"? The training functions of the VSO and the support operations of the Task Force for Business and Stability operations (TFBSO) that came together in 2011 at Khas Kunar hint at what might be accomplished by the RNS. Design of an RNS that can made operational and instrumented for evaluation will be the primary product of this study.
Keywords
Publications	Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal
Data	Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal