ABSTRACT
In the current global security environment threats are of a transnational nature, where cultural, social, and teclmological changes can drive instability across borders empowering hostile non-state actors and jeopardizing U.S. strategic interests. While conventional warfare is about destroying the enemy's military capabilities, complex operations, operations according to the 2009 National Defense Authorization Act
that involve irregular warfare, counterinsurgency, and stability, security, transition, and reconstruction operations, require a focus on the human dimensions of conflict. In essence, complex operations are campaigns to influence the support of the population. Understanding the complexities of the local environment and adopting a geospatial analytical reasoning approach to monitor these population dynamics aids in the development and management of a campaign focusing on a mix of non-lethal and lethal activities.
