| Eight years into their use in Afghanistan, Provincial Reconstruction Teams are being considered by policymakers as a permanent response to a gap in U.S. stabilization capacity. These integrated civil-military teams have proved somewhat effective at stabilization in areas that are too insecure for traditional reconstruction actors like NGOs, USAID, and the UN. Though PRTs have been imperfectly implemented, the PRT model, combining civilians and soldiers into a single team for integrated operations, shows significant promise for resolving this stabilization gap. A civil-military approach is a major break from traditional U.S. stabilization efforts however, and institutionalizing the PRT model will be difficult. |
