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The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Departments of the Army and Defense, or the U.S. Government.
Introduction
The Operational Environment (OE) in which Army forces find themselves operating has become even more complex in the past six years - and analyzing that environment has also become more complex. There has consequently been a corresponding increase in the acronyms used to analyze the operational environment that include DIME, DIMEFIL, MIDLIFE, ASCOPE, and PMESII. Understanding each of these acronyms and applying their constructs when appropriate can assist in developing detailed analysis of the OE. Of course, each of these constructs can be used to analyze the OE from both the friendly and adversary point of view.
DIME (Diplomatic, Informational, Military, Economic)
Field Manual (FM) 3-0, Operations, defines the "instruments of national power" as diplomatic, informational, military, and economic, normally referred to as the DIME. x Joint Publication (JP) 3-0, Joint Operations, uses the term "instruments of national power" to define strategy as "a prudent idea or set of ideas for employing the instruments of national power in a synchronized and integrated fashion to achieve theater, national, and/ or multinational objectives." 2
Even though the military may be the primary instrument of national power during warfighting, the other elements of the "DIME" are not excluded; in fact, they continue to be essential instruments in the strategy of conducting the war. At the operational and tactical levels, the other elements of the DIME continue to be essential for mission success. It may be common to see all of the different instruments of national power used as "logical lines of operations (LLOs) where each of the instruments has complementary tasks and subtasks to meet the overall strategic objectives. This is especially true when considering all of the actions that may be taken prior to the initiation of hostilities with "flexible deterrent operations," or FDOs. These FDOs may be derived from any of the instruments of the DIME such as information operations (the "I" in DIME") or economic sanctions (combining diplomatic and economic instruments of power) .
There is also an evolving construct for stability and reconstruction operations. The basic construct of the DIME is...