Military operations other than war

Military operations other than war (MOOTW) are military operations that do not involve warfare, combat, or the threat or use of violence. They generally include peacekeeping, peacebuilding, disaster response, humanitarian aid, military engineering, law enforcement, arms control, deterrence, and multilateralism.

The phrase and acronym were coined by the United States Armed Forces in the 1990s, but it has since fallen out of use. The British Armed Forces use an alternative term called peace support operations (PSO), which essentially refers to the same thing as MOOTW.^[1] Similarly, the Chinese People's Liberation Army also uses a similar concept called non-war military activities, which expands on MOOTW and includes a range of activities categorized as "Confrontational" ,"Law Enforcement", "Aid & Rescue", or "Cooperative".^[2]

Special agreements exist which facilitate fire support operations within NATO and the ABCANZ quadripartite working group. Cooperation is organized in advance with NATO standardization agreements (STANAGs) and quadripartite standardization agreements (QSTAGs). Many countries which need disaster support relief have no bilateral agreements already in place, and action may be required, based on the situation, to establish such agreements.^[3]

The United Nations (UN) recognizes the vulnerability of civilians in armed conflict. United Nations Security Council resolution 1674 (2006) on the protection of civilians in armed conflict enhances international focused attention on the protection of civilians in UN and other peace operations. The implementation of paragraph 16 anticipates that peacekeeping missions are provided with clear guidelines regarding what missions can and should do to achieve protection goals; that the protection of civilians is given priority in decisions about the use of resources; and that protection mandates are implemented.^[4]