USAID-DoD Cooperation and Implications for Development

May 6, 2008

One of the most significant trends in the U.S. global development and foreign assistance arenas since September 11, 2001 is the growing involvement of the Department of Defense (DoD). While the bulk of the development programs managed by the Pentagon has occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan, new modes of coordination have also been established in Africa and Europe. The cooperation between USAID and DoD via Combatant Command centers (AFRICOM and EUCOM) has raised concerns that U.S. foreign and development policies are being subsumed by a short-term security agenda. Will this collaboration provide an innovative way to manage the development-security nexus? Or will it exacerbate the imbalance between the military and civilian components of the U.S. approach to development? 

This event featured a presentation by William Anderson, Senior Development Adviser/EUCOM, U.S. Agency for International Development, who discussed his experience with EUCOM as a new model of cooperation. CGD Senior Fellow Steve Radelet moderated a panel of experts who discussed the benefits, challenges, and implications of such cooperation for development objectives and long-term U.S. foreign policy. Discussants included Charles Kosak, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Partnership Strategy, U.S. Department of Defense, Linda Poteat, Director, Disaster Responses, InterAction, and Connie Veillette, Senior Professional Staff Member, Office of Senator Lugar, Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Access William Anderson's presentation (pdf, 984K)