A few days ago, I pasted an excerpt about why we should care about the conditions in places such as subsaharan Africa. The following is more from the same essay, talking about what we can do about them, engaging in what I call "Diminishing Warfare":
The United States must actively diminish these formidable underlying conditions with the same fervor and intensity with which we have pursued the missions of destroying, denying, and defending. This requires the integration of all four instruments of national power – diplomatic, informational, military, and economic (DIME) – by:
- Championing Aspirations for Human Dignity
- Partnering with international, regional, and local governments as well as governmental, non-governmental (NGOs) and private volunteer organizations (PVOs)
- Mobilizing the American People, and
- Conducting Coordinated and Coherent Information Operations
For this week, let's look at the first of these four steps:
1. Championing Aspirations for Human Dignity. We must implement the National Security Strategy (NSS) directive to champion aspirations for human dignity, acting with our public and diplomatic voices, foreign aid, and promotion of democracy, democratic institutions, and freedom of religion and conscience. By acting in such areas in an honest, straightforward, and consistent manner, we will spread hope, which is perhaps the most effective deterrent to terrorism. This will require pursuing the methods forwarded in the NSS in an even manner:
1. Championing Aspirations for Human Dignity. We must implement the National Security Strategy (NSS) directive to champion aspirations for human dignity, acting with our public and diplomatic voices, foreign aid, and promotion of democracy, democratic institutions, and freedom of religion and conscience. By acting in such areas in an honest, straightforward, and consistent manner, we will spread hope, which is perhaps the most effective deterrent to terrorism. This will require pursuing the methods forwarded in the NSS in an even manner:
a. Speaking out honestly about violations of human dignity and using our influence in international forums to champion freedom means that we must be willing to criticize our allies, friends, adversaries, and even ourselves, in a consistent manner that shows a true resolve to uphold human dignity for all people and condemn attacks against it from all sources.
b. Judicious use of foreign aid to promote freedom and encourage forward-moving nations must likewise be consistent, and must be linked to our public voice. We cannot continue to allow our foreign aid programs to be incongruous with our diplomatic voice.
c. The development of democratic institutions, including the vital infrastructure that supports them, must gain even higher priority in our efforts. We must increase and augment such programs as the President’s Millennium Challenge Corporation, which work to improve public works, economic development, and public health initiatives as well as education, training, and mentoring in public service, law enforcement, entrepreneurship, and other vital fields.
Next... using partnerships to fight injustice.
No comments:
Post a Comment