“What’s Next?” with ASP Adjunct Fellow Mark Kustra
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On this week’s episode of “What’s Next?” Maggie Feldman-Piltch interviews Mark Kustra, ASP Adjunct Fellow, to discuss the multifaceted aspects of stability operations. Maggie and Mark examine how stability ops focuses on overseas endeavors, that range from disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, and combat related ops in contentious regions, such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mark highlights the complications of having the military as a dominant element in combat-related stability operations overseas, as the military’s expertise does not always fall in the realm of post-war governance and development.
They further discuss how humanitarian and disaster relief are the easiest to execute, as there are authorities, such as USAID, with clearly defined roles and objectives.
Lastly, Mark stresses the importance of working with and advising foreign governments and their FEMA equivalents in order for them to work independently in the future.
Speaker Bios
Mark Kustra is an ASP Adjunct Fellow and a former United States Marine Officer with over 23 years of operational experience serving in positions from the tactical to the strategic levels of Defense. Throughout his life, to include his childhood and career, he has lived and worked in Asia for over 17 years.
Most recently he worked as a Strategic Analyst in the Marine Corps’ Strategic Initiatives Group where he looked at a range of issues related to future trends and threats to global stability and requirements to meet them. As a member of the Afghanistan Pakistan Hands Program he served as a governance and development advisor in Marjah District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
About “What’s Next?”
“What’s Next?” is American Security Project’s weekly, non-partisan podcast series featuring interviews with national security leaders and critical issue experts. Each episode runs about 20 minutes- making it the perfect addition to your DC commute.
Hosted by Maggie Feldman-Piltch and produced by Matthew Wallin, the conversations go beyond the dinner party commentary and offer guests the opportunity to discuss their vision for security in the 21st century, the strategy that vision requires, and what it means for America going forward- in less time than it takes you to get to work. With topics ranging from geo-economics to nuclear security, cultural diplomacy to energy security and asymmetric operations, “What’s Next?” is one of the many ways ASP works to raise the American public’s understanding of complex security issues we face.
