367 Felipe Santos Rodríguez Strategic communication in modern conflicts : Afganistan participants. “28 Since the Bucharest summit in April 2008, NATO has been studying an action plan for the development and implementation of the Comprehensive Approach. This is conceived as a long-term task that must be constantly revised. It identifies five areas that need improvement in order for it to for successfully applied: 1. The planning and control of operations. The challenge is to improve cooperation between all parties involved in the operations, like the strategic approach and the objectives shared before the operation launch. It is claimed that the effects on the population, the reconstruction tasks and development should be incorporated in the military plan. 2. Lessons learned, training and maneuvers. The Comprehensive Approach will be essential in the training and maneuvers. These must involve joint exercises of both military and civilian personnel. Share experiences and lessons learned from the operations that they have developed together. 3. Promoting cooperation with external participants. Establish a climate of mutual trust between all the organizations and actors involved in the operation should be a key objective for the mission’s effectiveness. 4. Public messages and public diplomacy. We fully quote for the sake of your interest the following: The effectiveness of the Comprehensive Approach must be complemented with a coherent strategy and solid public messages. Information campaigns NATO’s Information campaigns should be substantiated by systematic and updated information, it should document the progress of the operation in the most relevant areas. It is important to ensure that the information strategy of the main participants should complement rather than contradict, through direct contact between those responsible of public information.29 This is still a recurrent aspect in the official NATO documents; at least since the Comprehensive Political Guidance was published on November 29, 2006.30 Although it is a matter addressed in the CIMIC (Civil-Military Cooperation) doctrine, it acquires a new relevance by placing the emphasis on the Comprehensive Approach. There is a substantial difference between CIMIC and Comprehensive Approach. CIMIC is a 28 NATO EBAO Handbook en JAKOBSEN, P. V. NATO’s Comprehensive Approach to Crisis Response Operations. A Work in Slow Progress. Danish Institute for International Studies, DIIS Report, 2008, p. 19. 29 NATO: A comprehensive Approach. Public Information on the Alliance concerning this concept on his web page: http://bit.ly/GmH8o (last accessed 17th of July 2010). 30 JAKOBSEN, P. V. NATO’s Comprehensive Approach to Crisis Response Operations. A Work in Slow Progress. Danish Institute for International Studies, DIIS Report, 2008, p. 13.
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