The Migration to DoD
An good WaPo article [1] highlights the bizarre situation we’ve arrived in where the Secretary of Defense lobbies Congress for more money for the State Department.
Concerns over expediency make for a compelling argument for channeling aid through DoD, it creates serious concerns about the long-term balance of America’s foreign policy. Directing funds through DoD might relieve the immediate pressure, but what are we doing to fix the “fundamental mismatch of authorities, resources and capabilities” (as Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman put it)? What is being done to make the State Department capable of executing its responsibilities, so that these duct tape solutions aren’t necessary?Secretary Robert M. Gates has described the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development as “chronically undermanned and underfunded for too long.”
[1] Washington Post, August 4, 2008, Pg. 9, “How Foreign Policy Functions Shifted To The Pentagon,” by Walter Pincus.
