USAID Conflict Prevention Workshop Notes

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INTRODUCTION OF KEYNOTE SPEAKER
JANE HOLL LUTE

by
Thomas Fox
Assistant Administrator
Bureau for Policy and Program Coordination
United States Agency for International Development

June 6, 2000

Photo of Thomas Fox Good morning and welcome to the USAID Workshop on Conflict Prevention and Mitigation. Since the late 1980s, both the scale and frequency of civil conflict has grown exponentially. The number of internal state conflicts vastly outnumbers the number of inter-state wars and, in the last decade, the nature of conflict has changed dramatically. Modern internal conflicts are fought primarily with conventional weaponry yet affect more civilians than ever before. More civilians, primarily women and children, are generally killed in these internal conflicts than are soldiers. Internal wars are becoming more and more costly, both in human and financial terms.

A wide variety of factors have influenced this dramatic shift in the nature of war and conflict. Hence, the tools and interventions that U.S. foreign policy has traditionally used to deal with them must change. Since the 1940s, U.S. foreign assistance has played an integral role in the foreign policy arsenal in a wide variety of countries undergoing problems of stability as well as during actual warfare. The cases of Greece and Korea are obvious examples. But we have used our foreign assistance for other purposes as well. We in the American foreign assistance program have had the privilege of implementing some of the most enlightened policies any government has ever pursued in its foreign policy. We have helped countries free themselves from that most efficient oppressor, great and intense poverty. And, we have gone on to help them establish the means of opposing oppression of any kind. We have been a key player in the U.S. effort to make people free both economically and politically. With the growing realization that deadly conflict is not inevitable and can be prevented, the question is now what role can a foreign aid agency play in the arsenal of weapons against deadly conflict?

We have learned many lessons in this process; not all of them have been pleasant or easy. One of the most difficult has been about conflict and development. Sustainable development requires the economic growth many countries fail to achieve. "While those countries that do not achieve economic success may have failed for reasons other than the outbreak of large-scale collective violence, countries in which such violence does occur almost inevitably fail to achieve economic success." (Brough and Elliott, 1999) This is an iron law. It is a large part of the reason we are here today.

Our purpose here is begin the process of developing the understanding needed to perform our functions. First, we must understand where American foreign assistance fits in 21st century foreign and national security policy. Then, as part of a growing international effort to evaluate the nature of these internal conflicts, we must determine how the international community might deal with them.

Photo of Jane Hull Lute and Tom Fox Our first speaker, Dr. Jane Hull Lute, will speak on the topic of "US Foreign Policy and Conflict: The Need for Prevention." Dr. Lute is well versed in this subject matter and is a well-recognized authority. She is currently the Executive Director of the Project on the Role of American Military Power at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA). Prior to her RAMP assignment she was Executive Director of the Carnegie Commission on Prevention of Deadly Conflict. She came to Carnegie from being the Director for European Affairs on the National Security Council Staff at the White House. A career Army officer, Dr. Lute served as a policy action officer on the CENTCOM staff in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm and was an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Dr. Lute holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. Yesterday, she was sworn in as a member of the Virginia Bar. Dr. Lute brings a broad and extensive experience to this topic and we are indeed fortunate to have her as our keynote speaker. Please welcome Dr. Jane Holl Lute.

USAID Workshop on Conflict Prevention Management

INTRODUCTION OF KEYNOTE SPEAKER JANE HOLL LUTE

USAID Workshop on
Conflict Prevention Management

INTRODUCTION OF KEYNOTE SPEAKER
JANE HOLL LUTE