What Role for Diplomacy in Reconstruction and Stabilization?
Panel Discussion
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Ronald Reagan Building, 6th Floor Auditorium
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
10am-11:30am
From Granada through Afghanistan to Iraq, the US has repeatedly entered countries militarily only to find that a successful exit required substantial civilian contributions to state building and development efforts on the ground and in international diplomacy. Each time, the United States had to “reinvent the wheel,” and lessons were lost rather than learned.
The American Academy of Diplomacy (AAD), the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Project on Leadership and Building State Capacity, and the RAND Corporation were pleased to present a panel discussion featuring experienced diplomats and scholars who presented the recommendations of two significant reports focusing on interagency coordination and the need for a more robust diplomatic corps.
Ambassador Robert Hunter, co-chair of the report “Integrating Instruments of Power and Influence: Lessons Learned and Best Practices,” discussed what the best practices are for improving civil-military relations. The report drew from 67 U.S. and European senior practitioners in both civilian and military posts, and is based on case studies of experiences in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Ambassador Thomas Boyatt, chair of the “Foreign Affairs Budget for the Future: Fixing the Crisis in Diplomatic Readiness” report, discussed budgetary needs to enable the State Department and the Foreign Service to accomplish their missions in classic diplomacy, training, public diplomacy, development diplomacy, and reconstruction and stabilization. Robert S. Litwak, Director of International Security Studies at the Woodrow Wilson Center, gave introductory remarks and moderated.
The recommendations from these two reports reinforce each other and have immense implications for reconstruction and stabilization efforts, in light of the recent focus on military involvement in Afghanistan. The discussion emphasized the critical role that diplomacy plays in reconstruction and stabilization, and in promoting America’s national security.
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