Flournoy: Boosting Civilian Capacity Will be a Primary QDR Focus
March 27, 2009 -- Building civilian capacity will be one of the main thrusts of the Quadrennial Defense Review, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy said today.
The future environment will demand that the United States institutionalize and better resource capabilities for stability operations, said Flournoy, adding that the broader U.S. government must complement military capabilities. “This is going to be an area that I can assure you that the upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review” will explore, she said. “It will be a main focus area for that.”
Bolstering this capacity will take substantial financial investment in the State Department and organizations like the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to a panel of stability operations experts who spoke at the Brookings Institution in Washington with Flournoy.
The panel discussed Field Manual 3-07, the latest Army doctrine on stability operations that debuted last fall. The group included Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, commander of the Combined Arms Center at Ft. Leavenworth, KS; and Brookings' Janine Davidson. Davidson will be the deputy assistant secretary of defense for plans, according to a March 24 briefing given by Flournoy.
The event took place on the same day President Obama unveiled a new U.S. government strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan that aims to advance security, opportunity and justice in Afghanistan by tapping the expertise of agricultural specialists, educators, engineers and lawyers.
“And that's why I'm ordering a substantial increase in our civilians on the ground,” Obama told reporters. “That's also why we must seek civilian support from our partners and allies, from the United Nations and the international aid organizations, an effort that Secretary [of State Hillary] Clinton will carry forward next week in The Hague.”
Although the worsening economic crisis may tempt some to consider shortchanging the civilian effort, Obama warned that American initiatives will fail in Afghanistan and Pakistan if proper investments are not made. “And that's why my budget includes indispensable investments in our State Department and foreign assistance programs,” he said. “These investments relieve the burden on our troops. They contribute directly to security.”
During the Brookings' discussion, Flournoy emphasized the need to “put our money where our mouth is, and that means investing in the civilian capacities that are needed to be successful in these operations and in meeting these critical tasks."
In recent months, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has repeatedly expressed his support for similar investments in civilian capacity.
The administration's new strategy for Afghanistan will require the political will of Congress to invest in these initiatives, Flournoy told the audience.
Congress' first test will come when the administration submits a supplemental request for 2009, she maintained. Within that supplemental bill will be a substantial request for resources to build civilian capacity, she said, adding that these resources are "absolutely critical to succeed in Afghanistan."
"This will be an important opportunity and an important challenge to help Congress do the right thing and help start to invest in these capabilities, because this is really an immediate, critical need for a mission that involves a lot of U.S. interests," said Flournoy. "I'm hoping that this will begin to get off the ground as we move forward."
In the past, Congress has pushed back against requests to build more robust capabilities at the State Department, said the discussion moderator, Carlos Pascual, vice president and director for foreign policy at Brookings.
This approach will require the joint efforts of the president, the secretary of state and the defense secretary, Pascual urged. They must send a message that investing in these capabilities is “a national-security priority of the United States, and they have to go to the top of the list. This is the level that we're going to have to bring it to," he said.
In addition, Flournoy indicated that the QDR will address the question of how to resource and organize the U.S. military in the long term to advise and train foreign security forces. -- Kate Brannen and Fawzia Sheikh
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