29 Jan 08 testimony before the HASC Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee on Interagency Reform: Can the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Case Study Illuminate the Future of Reconstruction and Stabilization Operations?

Carlos Pascual, The Brookings Institution
...as a nation we need to understand that addressing conflict and helping nations build peace is a national security priority. It requires both civilian and military capacity. Yet we do not have a national security budget – we have a budget for defense and another for foreign affairs. A stabilization and reconstruction capacity that is essential for the success of defense missions will remain under funded if it is not seen as part of an investment in national security that cuts across accounts....
Barbara Bodine, Princeton University

Michele Flournoy, Center for a New American Security

Nora Bensahel, RAND
....there are some ways to minimize some of the negative effects of interagency competition and increase U.S. capacity for stability operations. These include:

1. Manage interagency competition....

2. Create incentives for interagency secondments....

3. Increase the capacity of USAID....

4. Establish flexible funding mechanisms....

5. There is no substitute for an involved president and an involved Congress....