Staff Reporter
DEFENCE policy and defence doctrine are complementary pillars within a nation’s security architecture, with the former articulating the state’s strategic objectives, priorities, and resource commitments, while the latter operationalises that intent by providing authoritative principles that guide the organisation, training, and employment of military forces.
This was said by the Deputy Executive Director in the Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs, Major General Petrus Nathinge, in a series of lectures he delivered to students of the National Security and Defence Policy at the Namibia Command and Staff College in Okahandja recently.
According to Gen Nathinge, national security is increasingly influenced by non-traditional threats, including economic vulnerabilities, transnational crime, climate change, cyber risks, and internal socio-economic pressures.
“Such challenges,” he said, “necessitate integrated, coordinated, and preventive responses that extend beyond conventional defence measures.”
He pointed out that policy without doctrine leaves the armed forces without clear direction for execution, while doctrine without policy risks military action becoming misaligned with national interests. Together, defence policy and defence doctrine ensure coherence between political direction and military action, thereby enhancing effectiveness and strategic alignment, he said.
PICTURED: Major General Petrus Nathinge.Policy and d
