An Expanded Mandate for Peace Building

April 30, 2009

This first of two related reports examines the evolution of peace building in the U.S. State Department. It begins with a sketch of the role of diplomacy in peace building. It reviews the leadership role of the secretary of state. It proceeds to an examination of multi-bureau involvement in the reconstruction and stabilization efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. It assesses the central role of individual geographic bureaus in particular conflicts and the special peace-building tasks of several functional bureaus. The bulk of the report is devoted to a description and evaluation of the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization. The author concludes that traditional peace-building diplomacy, led by the geographic bureaus, has been uneasily and incompletely yoked with the work of the Coordinator’s Office, and he advances suggestions for reform.