Sharpening Our Plowshares: Applying the Lessons of Counterinsurgency to Development and Humanitarian Aid
Abstract
Since the 1980s, encouraging social, political, and economic development and dispensing humanitarian assistance have become highpriority missions for both national policy makers and international and nongovernmental organizations (NGO). During the Cold War, donor nations often competed among themselves for influence and reputational rewards or from a simple desire to do good in the developing world. This focus on dispensing developmental and humanitarian aid has only accelerated since the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 2005 President George W. Bush promulgated National Security Presidential Directive 44, Management of Interagency Efforts Concerning Reconstruction and Stabilization, which underscored America s commitment to providing humanitarian assistance and reconstruction aid to populations in need. Later, during the Obama administration, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates argued that where possible, U.S. strategy is to employ indirect approaches primarily through building the capacity of partner governments and their security forces to prevent festering problems from turning into crises that require costly and controversial direct military intervention. More recently, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argued that the United States must elevate development as a core pillar of American power as part of a strategy of exercising smart power internationally.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA582324
Entities
People
- Solomon Major
Organizations
- Naval War College