Samenvatting

While NATOs definition of CIMIC would suggest an unambiguous concept, the essays in this volume make clear how complicated it can be and how it defies simple categorization. CIMIC takes place both during disaster relief and during peacekeeping operations. It takes place after military conflicts as well as during civil wars. CIMIC means military officers and enlisted men dealing with local government, if any is present, or else establish a local government. It also means dealing with local and international NGOs, and international government organizations. CIMIC is about maintaining peace and order and bringing relief to people who need it desperately, about rebuilding - often literally - societies, but sometimes it can also lead to entanglement in local conflict and result in mission creep with detrimental results. All of these aspects have been addressed by the essays in this collection. The discourse on CIMIC has been set by Michael C. Williams and Thomas G. Weiss. Their studies have provided an overview of the issues involved with CIMIC.3 They discussed topics ranging from the moral question of intervention during humanitarian crises to the roles of NGOs and of military forces in the operational area.