STUTTGART, Germany — It was one crisis after another.

Crazed rogues were sabotaging U.S. businesses. Charity workers were being assaulted. Angry crowds threatened the U.S. Embassy.

The African country’s government was losing its grip and U.S. troops on the ground were awaiting their orders.

“What we want to do is not make things worse,” said Marine Lt. Col. Michael Groen, an intelligence planner for the U.S. European Command, which on Thursday concluded Sharp Focus 05, an exercise that simulated rescuing an African nation using a new, broad-based approach to warfare.

Sharp Focus 05 culminated nearly two years’ work by EUCOM, with a goal of helping democratic nations with responsive and self-sufficient governments that are “helping us in the war on terrorism,” Groen said.

“We want nations to take care of their problems themselves.”

The operation focused on a real country in Africa and used real information, but EUCOM declined to name the country for fear of falsely labeling it as a future target.

The essence of Sharp Focus 05, and perhaps for future battles, was to weigh diplomatic, economic, cultural and regional factors before directing troops on the ground. All four service branches weighed in, as well as the State Department and other agencies.

Planners prioritized which buildings needed to be attacked, which bridges defended and which people to make allies, based on what would happen next.

“Sometimes you would have to trade a negative trend in one effect for a [greater] positive trend in another effect,” said Navy Cmdr. Kyle Barrett, a plans officer with EUCOM’s European Plans and Operations Center, or EPOC.

Over nearly two years, EUCOM developed its “effects-based” war plan, established a database for its nations and regions, and built an Internet portal over which to communicate.

A key was deciding how to measure success and failure, Groen said.

“Are we really changing the environment or not?” Groen said. “You don’t measure that by how hard you’re working. You measure effectiveness.”

About 500 EUCOM troops and civilians participated in the exercise over two weeks. Eighteen objectives were identified, such as providing medical assistance and ways to get supplies to where they were needed.

Marine Brig. Gen. Richard Mills, the EPOC deputy director, said the exercise went well but there was room to improve.

The staff needed to do a better job of making sure the planners and doers were in sync, he said, and that relevant information flowed to battle commanders on the ground.

A logistics cell is now being considered to focus specifically on troops’ movements, Mills said.

Matthew Cordova, a planning officer with the State Department’s Office of Reconstruction and Stabilization, said he was impressed with the military’s attention to details and planning. Cordova said in effects-based planning, the state and defense departments could help each other.

“It showed the necessity of military and civilian collaboration in planning, and it showed the importance of civilian and military cooperation on the ground in operations,” Cordova said.