text: Understanding an Operational Environment
  a tribal grouping or a social caste may directly affect whom that group sees as a legitimate authority in an
  area. Moreover, these social groupings can affect the formal power structure. For example, in an electoral
  system, groups will often vote as blocs, giving them added political power in that formal system. (See
  ADRP 5-0 for more information on the political variable.)
  2-17. Often, informal groups such as tribes or local councils are the essential actors in the distribution of
  political power, especially at the local level. Political power is the ability to influence behavior. The biggest
  influence of behavior is often local groupings that can create a norming effect on a population. Most groups
  hold power only because the population accepts that power distribution.
  2-18. However, the opposite can also be true and the formal political system can change group identity and
  influence the actions of any social group. States can create identity in a population through education and
  information. For example, an education program that instills nationalist views in an individual from an
  early age can be a powerful tool in shaping a person’s identity and in turn whom that person sees as a
  legitimate authority. Group and individual identities are not static, nor is whom a population views as
  legitimate static. While groups have internal means to view identity, variables outside the group, including
  the host nation, also affect them.
  2-19. The commitment and motivation of a host nation to defeat an insurgency is an important motivation.
  Governments with more than one of the following traits have tended to lose historically, even when
  supported by competent and committed external forces:
  * Government sponsors or protects unpopular economic and social arrangements or cultural
  institutions.
  * Government is involved in corrupt and arbitrary personalistic rule.
  * Government operates as a kleptocracy.
  * Government is controlled by elites with perverse incentives to continue conflict.
  * Government is economically dependent on external actors.
  The harsh reality for counterinsurgents is that some of these negative characteristics are usually present,
  and they are key factors in sparking insurgencies in the first place. As a result, the interests of a host-nation
  government are often at odds with what the best practices would be to solve its political problems. (See
  paragraphs 1-27 through 1-33 for more information on legitimacy and control.)
  MILITARY
  2-20. The military variable explores the military and paramilitary capabilities of all relevant actors (enemy,
  friendly, and neutral) in a given operational environment. For many countries, the army’s predominant
  purpose is to be the military force responsible for maintaining external security. However, this is not a
  universal rule, and many militaries become involved in internal security and even governance. In some
  cases, there is a degree of military control over the government, which then blends the political and military
  variables. This can range from a military dictatorship to a praetorian guard type military that periodically
  intervenes in the governance of a society. Even in cases where a host nation appears to have complete
  objective control over its military forces, these military forces can be an important bureaucratic and
  political actor. The interaction between the military and the political structure is important to understanding
  this variable’s relationship with the political distribution of power in a society. (See ADRP 5-0 for more
  information on the military variable.)
  2-21. A host of institutions including police, paramilitary, intelligence, and other organizations can
  maintain internal security. Thus, commanders and staffs need to consider them within the military variable.
  In many autocratic societies, intelligence agencies provide an essential means of control over a society.
  Many societies maintain civil control and civil security by an accepted rule of law and a police force that
  enforces the rule of law. In a counterinsurgency, the host nation may use the military or a paramilitary to
  defeat an insurgency.
  2-22. The military variable includes all forces involved in both internal and external security. U.S.
  counterinsurgents must fully understand how the host nation maintains internal and external security.
  Moreover, they must understand both neutral and enemy military forces. Neutral military forces are
  common in a counterinsurgency, as some states or multinational corporations will employ or contract for