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Chapter IX. Transform America's National Security Institutions to Meet the Challenges and Opportunities of the 21st Century

 Section C.  The Way Ahead

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                   We must extend and enhance the transformation of key institutions, both domestically

                   and abroad.

                   

                   At home, we will pursue three priorities:

                   

                   ·  Sustaining the transformation already under way in the Departments of

                        Defense, Homeland Security, and Justice; the Federal Bureau of Investigation;

                        and the Intelligence Community.

                         

                   ·  Continuing to reorient the Department of State towards transformational

                        diplomacy, which promotes effective democracy and responsible sovereignty.  

                        Our diplomats must be able to step outside their traditional role to become more

                        involved with the challenges within other societies, helping them directly,

                        channeling assistance, and learning from their experience.  This effort will

                        include:

                   

                        ·  Promoting the efforts of the new Director for Foreign

                               Assistance/Administrator to ensure that foreign assistance is used as

                               effectively as possible to meet our broad foreign policy objectives.  This new

                               office will align more fully the foreign assistance activities carried out by the

                               Department of State and USAID, demonstrating that we are responsible

                               stewards of taxpayer dollars.

                         

                        ·  Improving our capability to plan for and respond to post-conflict and failed-

                               state situations.  The Office of Reconstruction and Stabilization will integrate

                               all relevant United States Government resources and assets in conducting

                               reconstruction and stabilization operations.  This effort must focus on building

 

        National Security Strategy

44

 

                      the security and law enforcement structures that are often the prerequisite for

                      restoring order and ensuring success.  

 

                 ·  Developing a civilian reserve corps, analogous to the military reserves.  The

                      civilian reserve corps would utilize, in a flexible and timely manner, the

                      human resources of the American people for skills and capacities needed for

                      international disaster relief and post-conflict reconstruction.

                 

                 ·  Strengthening our public diplomacy, so that we advocate the policies and

                      values of the United States in a clear, accurate, and persuasive way to a

                      watching and listening world.  This includes actively engaging foreign

                      audiences, expanding educational opportunities for Americans to learn about

                      foreign languages and cultures and for foreign students and scholars to study

                      in the United States; empowering the voices of our citizen ambassadors as

                      well as those foreigners who share our commitment to a safer, more

                      compassionate world; enlisting the support of the private sector; increasing

                      our channels for dialogue with Muslim leaders and citizens; and confronting

                      propaganda quickly, before myths and distortions have time to take root in the

                      hearts and minds of people across the world.

                       

                 ·  Improving the capacity of agencies to plan, prepare, coordinate, integrate,

                      and execute responses covering the full range of crisis contingencies and

                      long-term challenges.

                       

                      ·  We need to strengthen the capacity of departments and agencies to do

                          comprehensive, results-oriented planning.  

                       

                      ·  Agencies that traditionally played only a domestic role increasingly have a

                          role to play in our foreign and security policies.  This requires us to better

                          integrate interagency activity both at home and abroad.

 

                 Abroad, we will work with our allies on three priorities:

                       

                 ·  Promoting meaningful reform of the U.N., including:

                 

                      ·  Creating structures to ensure financial accountability and administrative

                          and organizational efficiency.

                       

                      ·  Enshrining the principle that membership and participation privileges are

                          earned by responsible behavior and by reasonable burden-sharing of

                          security and stability challenges.

                 

                      ·  Enhancing the capacity of the U.N. and associated regional organizations

                          to stand up well-trained, rapidly deployable, sustainable military and

                          gendarme units for peace operations.

                 

 

                                                                                           National Security Strategy  45

 

                   ·  Ensuring that the U.N. reflects today's geopolitical realities and is not shackled by

                        obsolete structures.

             

                   ·  Reinvigorating the U.N.'s commitment, reflected in the U.N. Charter, to the

                        promotion of democracy and human rights.  

                               

             ·  Enhancing the role of democracies and democracy promotion throughout

                   international and multilateral institutions, including:

                   

                   ·  Strengthening and institutionalizing the Community of Democracies.

                   

                   ·  Fostering the creation of regional democracy-based institutions in Asia, the

                        Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere.

             

                   ·  Improving the capacity of the U.N. and other multilateral institutions to advance

                        the freedom agenda through tools like the U.N. Democracy Fund.

             

                   ·  Coordinating more effectively the unique contributions of international financial

                        institutions and regional development banks.

                               

             ·  Establishing results-oriented partnerships on the model of the PSI to meet new

                   challenges and opportunities.  These partnerships emphasize international

                   cooperation, not international bureaucracy.  They rely on voluntary adherence rather

                   than binding treaties.  They are oriented towards action and results rather than

                   legislation or rule-making.

National Security Strategy 46

         

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