U.S. Peacefare

February 28, 2010

"The past few years have seen a number of reforms and initiatives within the U.S. government that address the growing challenges of building peace. Dane Smith’s book provides the first comprehensive survey of the range of U.S. agencies involved in peace building. At the same time, he addresses the fundamental concern over the increased power of the military—at the expense of civilian agencies—in stabilization and reconstruction operations. Important decisions are now being made on the future direction of U.S. foreign policy. A central task in arriving at these decisions will be determination of the proper role of both civilian and defense agencies in peace building.”—Frederick Barton and Karin von Hippel, Codirectors, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project, CSIS

U.S. Peacefare: Organizing American Peace-Building Operations surveys the evolution of the American peace-building apparatus during the presidencies of George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, with an emphasis on changes since 2003 and the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts.

U.S. Peacefare begins with a historical overview of official U.S. peace-building efforts, then looks at the organization and interaction of the major federal agencies involved, including the National Security Council, the State Department, and the Defense Department, as well the U.S. Institute for Peace and, particularly, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Throughout, author and former ambassador Dane Smith emphasizes how a deeper understanding of peace-building organizations and their interactions in particular cases is essential to strengthening future U.S. conflict management. The book addresses the critical overall issue of how peace building is funded, both within the federal budget and internationally, and concludes with Smith’s recommendations for reforming those organizations.

The volume includes original tables on the financing of peace-building activities; organizational charts illustrating the various department actors involved in U.S. peace-building efforts; sidebars featuring individual officials who played key roles in recent peace-building activities for their agency or office; and a comprehensive glossary of terms and acronyms.

Dane F. Smith Jr. is a senior associate with the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and an adjunct professor at American University, both in Washington, D.C. Previously, he served as president of the National Peace Corps Association, U.S. ambassador to Senegal, special presidential envoy for Liberia, U.S. ambassador to Guinea, and deputy chief of mission in Sudan and Botswana. He holds a B.A. from Harvard College and a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.