Getting the Balance Right: Security Assistance and Democratic Governance

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush and Obama administrations and Congress have significantly increased defense spending and largely relied on the military to respond to challenges arising from terrorism, Islamic radicalism, insurgencies, ethnic conflicts, and failed states. At the same time, U.S. assistance to promote good governance has fallen sharply. Gordon Adams and Shoon Murray’s new book, Mission Creep, explores what happens to U.S. national security interests when the military and Department of Defense take the lead in formulating and delivering assistance to security forces in countries around the world.

Panelists will examine the relationship between military capacity, governance capacity, and terror attacks. They will explore whether security assistance makes a country more or less stable. What preconditions must be in place for U.S. security assistance to achieve its stated goals? How do outcomes differ when the Pentagon takes the lead in formulating, planning, and executing assistance to foreign forces rather than the Department of State?

Panelists

• Gordon Adams, a professor of U.S. Foreign Policy, has published widely on defense and national security policy, the defense policy process, and national security budgets.
• Michael J. McNerney is an associate director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center and a senior defense research analyst at the RAND Corporation.
• Shoon Murray is an associate professor at American University who writes about the American foreign policy political process.
• Joseph K. Young is an associate professor at American University with a joint appointment in the School of Public Affairs and the School of International Service.