Aligning “Soft” with “Hard” Power

Abstract

Last November, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates gave a speech that was described as groundbreaking in the manner in which it addressed the role of development and defense in meeting the national security challenges facing the United States. One of the most important lessons of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is that military success is not sufficient to win, Secretary Gates stated: Economic development, institution-building, and the rule of law, promoting internal reconciliation, good governance, providing basic services to the people, training and equipping indigenous military and police forces, strategic communications, and more--these, along with security, are essential ingredients for long-term success. (1) This article will address the importance of collaboration between American development agencies and the US military, the new means of driving that collaboration deeper into the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the interagency process, and the ways USAID will evolve in its relationship with the Department of Defense in the twenty-first century; especially as related to the role of development in achieving national security imperatives. Few subjects could be timelier or more important. A New Relationship While Secretary Gates sees development playing an essential role in the success of his organization's overall mission, USAID in turn has come to realize how fundamental security is to the success of its mission in the fragile and failed states that make up the core of its development portfolio. Recognizing the need for closer collaboration with DOD, USAID established an Office of Military Affairs in the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance in 2005. Uniforms in the corridors of the Ronald Reagan Building that houses USAID are now so commonplace they are not even noticed. This is not the way things used to be, even a few short years or months ago. While relations between the military and USAID have evolved, stereotypical views outside the Agency's walls, including in Congress, have not. This may prove to be one of the chief impediments to the Agency's future effectiveness. The Agency now has assigned military liaison officers from five regional Combatant Commands--US Africa Command (AFRICOM) and Special Operations Command are expected to assign officers shortly. At the same time, USAID Senior Development Advisers have been attached to the Pentagon, US Africa Command, and US European Command, and by August 2008 advisers will be in place at Special Operations Command, Central Command, Southern Command, and Pacific Command. USAID personnel have been deeply involved in the creation of AFRICOM and will eventually install five personnel in the command, each occupying key positions on that staff. USAID has trained more than 2,000 military personnel in conflict assessment and helped prepare them to manage stability and reconstruction projects in environments of war and state failure as well as in humanitarian emergencies. The Agency has been the key architect of a rigorous training program for interagency personnel who are part of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan. USAID and PRTs PRTs represent the cutting edge in civilian/military operations and provide a test case of those interventions that are likely to remain prominent national security challenges well into the future. More than half a century of foreign assistance practice has shown that development does not move forward, nor is it sustained, without host governments taking the lead. Iraq and Afghanistan are no exceptions in this regard. Local ownership and buy-in of development project objectives are essential, just as important perhaps as actually constructing a school or paving a road. Examples of effective PRY programs where the locals buy-in include efforts to provide adequate supplies of clean water, functioning utilities, safe recreational facilities, solar power generation, road improvements, and management training for administrators of cities, towns, and regions. …