The United States must do a better job of employing all elements of national power to meet the security threats of the 21st century.  Civilian capacity should be increased so military force and forces are not the go-to answer.  The current balance of resources between civilian and military organizations that are able to be deployed or employed in danger spots or humanitarian crises around the world heavily favors the military.  Our strategy calls for the rebalancing of the 3 Ds – Defense, Diplomacy, and Development.   

In the interest of strengthening diplomacy and development, PNSR is exploring various organizational models for a unified, interagency approach to the management of global civilian programs at the Department of State.  We call this Next-Generation State Department.  It includes increasing civilian capacity generally (from training to size to capabilities), for improving public diplomacy, for surge in capacity building, as well as beefing up foreign assistance.

The Guiding Coalition sponsor is Thomas Pickering, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, India, the United Nations, Russia, El Salvador, and Jordan, and former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.