Royal Army College

Lesson Overview

The earlier lessons taught the idea, the duty, the principles, and the threats. This lesson teaches the practice: how a force actually keeps civilians safe. Protection in practice is the application of the principles, consent, impartiality, and minimum force, to the threats civilians face.

There are three main ways a force provides protection, and they work together. Presence: the force stands among the civilians, and by being there protects them. Deterrence: the force's presence and readiness prevent threats before they materialise. Response: when a threat arises anyway, the force actively stops it. Presence and deterrence prevent many threats; response stops those that arise despite them.

By the end you will be able to explain protection in practice as the application of the principles to the threats; explain protective presence; explain deterrence and why preventing a threat beats responding to it; explain response and how the force stops threats that arise; and explain how the three ways work together.

Key Terms

Protection in practice: the actual provision of protection to civilians by the ways and means that keep them safe, applying the principles to the threats.
Protective presence: the presence of the protecting force among the civilians, which by being there deters threats, reassures civilians, and stands ready to respond.
Deterrence: the prevention of threats by the force's presence and readiness, so that those who would harm civilians refrain before the threat materialises.
Response: the active stopping of threats that arise despite presence and deterrence, by the means the principles allow.
Prevention before response: the principle that stopping a threat before it materialises protects better than responding after, because a prevented threat does no harm.
The ways working together: presence as the foundation, deterrence preventing many threats, response stopping those that arise anyway.

How protection is provided in practice

Understanding the duty, the principles, and the threats is the foundation, but it is not the protection itself. Protection is finally provided by ways and means that keep civilians safe.

Protection in practice applies the principles of Lesson 04 to the threats of Lesson 05. The force protects civilians against those threats by ways and means that are themselves conducted by consent, impartiality, and minimum force, so the protection is both effective and principled. The three main ways are presence, deterrence, and response. A soldier who grasps the foundation but not these ways cannot keep anyone safe; the rest of this lesson teaches them.

Protective presence

A force's protective presence is its standing among the civilians it protects. By being there, it protects in three ways.

It deters threats: those who would harm the civilians are put off by the presence of a force ready to respond (developed in the next section). It reassures the civilians, who are safer and feel safer, and so can live more normally under protection. And it puts the force where threats may arise, ready to act (developed in the response section).

Presence must be where it is needed, among the civilians who are threatened. A force present elsewhere protects no one. The presence is impartial, standing to protect all the threatened civilians even-handedly, and is the standing of a consented protector. It is the foundation on which deterrence and response are built; a force that is absent can neither deter, nor reassure, nor respond.

   PROTECTING CIVILIANS IN PRACTICE
   (apply the PRINCIPLES -- consent, impartiality, minimum force --
    to the THREATS, by these ways working TOGETHER:)

   PRESENCE ------- be AMONG the civilians, where protection is
   (the foundation) needed. By being there: DETERS, REASSURES, and
                    is READY TO RESPOND.
        |
        v
   DETERRENCE ----- presence + READINESS deter those who would harm
   (prevent)        -> the threat is PREVENTED before it materialises
                    (better than responding after).
        |
        v
   RESPONSE ------- when a threat ARISES despite deterrence, ACTIVELY
   (stop it)        respond to STOP it -- by the MINIMUM FORCE and the
                    principles (Lesson 04).

   Presence + deterrence PREVENT many threats; response STOPS those
   that arise anyway. Prevention is better than response.

Deterrence: preventing the threat

Deterrence is the prevention of threats by the force's presence and readiness. Those who would harm civilians, seeing the protecting force present and ready to respond, judge that the harm would be prevented or met, and refrain.

This is the great value of deterrence: a threat deterred is a threat prevented. No harm is done. Compare this with response, which stops a threat only after it has begun, by which time some harm may already be done. Prevention protects better.

Deterrence depends on presence and readiness. The force must be present where those who would harm civilians can see it, and visibly ready to act; a force that is absent or visibly unready deters no one. That readiness is a readiness to use the minimum necessary force under the principles, not a threat of unrestrained force. But deterrence does not stop everything. Some threats arise anyway, and these must be responded to.

Response, and the ways working together

Response is the force's active stopping of threats that arise despite presence and deterrence. Some who would do harm are not deterred; some threats of breakdown or vulnerability simply materialise. The force meets each in the way its nature requires: direct threats by stopping those who would harm civilians, breakdown by acting against the disorder, vulnerability by meeting the civilians' needs.

Where force is needed, the response uses the minimum necessary force under the principles of Lesson 04, necessity, proportionality, and last resort, directed at the threat. It is the response of a protector, not unrestrained force.

The three ways work together. Presence is the foundation, putting the force among the civilians and providing both the deterrence and the readiness to respond. Deterrence prevents many threats before they materialise. Response stops those that arise anyway. Together they protect by prevention where possible and response where necessary, conducted throughout by consent, impartiality, and minimum force. That is how protection is actually provided.

In Practice: Presence, Deterrence, and Response

A soldier of the Royal Kaharagian Army is posted among civilians where protection is needed. By being present, they deter, reassure, and stand ready. Their presence is impartial, protecting all the threatened civilians even-handedly, and is the standing of a consented protector.

That presence and readiness do most of the work. Those who would harm the civilians see a force ready to act, judge the harm would be prevented or met, and hold off. Many threats are prevented before they ever materialise, and no harm is done.

When a threat arises anyway, the soldier responds. Where force is needed, they use the minimum necessary force under necessity, proportionality, and last resort, directed at the threat, stopping it without harming the civilians through excess. Presence laid the foundation, deterrence prevented many threats, and response stopped the one that broke through. By prevention where possible and response where necessary, the civilians are kept safe.

Check Your Understanding

Explain protection in practice as the application of the principles to the threats, and why understanding the duty, principles, and threats is the foundation rather than the protection itself. What are the three main ways protection is provided?
Explain protective presence and the three ways it protects by being there. Then explain deterrence and why preventing a threat protects better than responding to it after it arises.
Explain response and how the force stops threats that arise despite presence and deterrence, applying the minimum use of force. Then explain how the three ways work together to protect civilians.

Reflection (write a short paragraph): This lesson teaches that protecting civilians works best by prevention: a threat deterred does no harm, while a threat that materialises may do some before it is stopped. Consider the broader principle that preventing harm beats responding to it, in protection and elsewhere. Be honest about whether you tend to react to problems after they arise or work to prevent them. Then describe one way you could build the disposition of prevention, so that you protect by presence and deterrence as well as by response.

Summary

Protection in practice applies the principles, consent, impartiality, and minimum force, to the threats civilians face. The foundation laid by the earlier lessons becomes protection only through the three ways: presence, deterrence, and response.
Protective presence protects by being there: it deters threats, reassures civilians, and keeps the force ready to respond. It must be where it is needed, is impartial, and is the standing of a consented protector. A force that is absent can do none of these things.
Deterrence prevents threats before they materialise, by the force's presence and readiness. Prevention beats response, because a prevented threat does no harm. It depends on a present, visibly ready force whose readiness is to use the minimum necessary force.
Response actively stops threats that arise anyway: direct threats by stopping those who would harm civilians, breakdown by acting against disorder, vulnerability by meeting needs, each in its own way. Where force is needed it is the minimum necessary, under necessity, proportionality, and last resort.
The three work together: presence is the foundation, deterrence prevents many threats, response stops the rest, by prevention where possible and response where necessary. This applies Lessons 02 to 04 and the threats of Lesson 05, draws on the aid-to-civil-power and humanitarian courses, and is completed by the coordination of Lesson 07 and the protector's ethic of Lesson 08.

Protecting Civilians in Practice