{ "id": "RL34639", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "RL34639", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 443010, "date": "2008-12-09", "retrieved": "2016-04-07T02:59:29.523656", "title": "The Department of Defense Role in Foreign Assistance: Background, Major Issues, and Options for Congress", "summary": "The Department of Defense (DOD) has long played a role in U.S. efforts to assist foreign populations, militaries, and governments. The use of DOD to provide foreign assistance stems in general from the perception that DOD can contribute unique or vital capabilities and resources because it possesses the manpower, materiel, and organizational assets to respond to international needs. Over the years, Congress has helped shape the DOD role by providing DOD with its mandate for such activities through a wide variety of authorities.\nThe historical DOD role in foreign assistance can be regarded as serving three purposes: responding to humanitarian and basic needs, building foreign military capacity and capabilities, and strengthening foreign governments\u2019 ability to deal with internal and international threats through state-building measures. The United States and the U.S. military benefit from DOD foreign assistance activities in several ways. U.S. diplomacy benefits from the U.S. military\u2019s capacity to project itself rapidly into extreme situations, such as disasters and other humanitarian emergencies, enhancing the U.S. image as a humanitarian actor. Humanitarian assistance, military training, and other forms of assistance also provide opportunities to cultivate good relations with foreign populations, militaries, and governments. U.S. military personnel have long viewed such activities as opportunities to interact with foreign militaries as part of their professional development. Since the terrorist attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001, DOD training of military forces and provision of security assistance have been an important means to enable foreign militaries to conduct peacekeeping operations and to support coalition operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.\nDOD\u2019s perception of the appropriate non-combat role for the U.S. military has evolved over time. Within the past few years, the perceptions of DOD officials, military officers, and defense analysts have coalesced around a post-9/11 strategy that calls for the use of the U.S. military in preventive, deterrent, and preemptive activities. This strategy involves DOD in the creation of extensive international and interagency \u201cpartnerships,\u201d as well as an expanded DOD role in foreign assistance activities. Critics point to a number of problems with an expanded DOD role in many activities. Indeed, a key DOD document acknowledges that state-building tasks may be \u201cbest performed by indigenous, foreign, or U.S. civilian professionals.\u201d Nevertheless, although reluctant to divert personnel from combat functions, DOD officials believe that the U.S. military must develop its own capacity to carry out such activities in the absence of appropriate civilian forces.\nIn the second session of the 110th Congress, Members have faced several choices regarding the DOD role in foreign assistance. The Bush Administration has proposed legislation to make permanent two controversial DOD authorities. It has also proposed legislation to enable U.S. government civilian personnel to perform some of the tasks currently carried out by the U.S. military, as well as to form a civilian reserve corps for that purpose. Congress may also consider options to improve DOD coordination with civilian agencies on foreign assistance activities.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL34639", "sha1": "6e669e7bc81e2d2ff3ea6a944f1d738f121ab211", "filename": "files/20081209_RL34639_6e669e7bc81e2d2ff3ea6a944f1d738f121ab211.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL34639", "sha1": "a5c27d63ee761149622365be94caeac79f65f03e", "filename": "files/20081209_RL34639_a5c27d63ee761149622365be94caeac79f65f03e.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc461912/", "id": "RL34639_2008Aug25", "date": "2008-08-25", "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41", "title": "The Department of Defense Role in Foreign Assistance: Background, Major Issues, and Options for Congress", "summary": "This report provides background information on and discusses issues related to the DOD's role in providing U.S. foreign assistance and undertaking foreign assistance-type activities. Topics include the types of assistance DOD provides, the authorities under which DOD conducts its programs, and coordination and cooperation mechanisms between DOD and other agencies. The report begins with a brief introduction to the three areas in which DOD plays a role in foreign assistance and to Congress's part in authorizing that role. Next, the report briefly discusses the general evolution of DOD's role and the Department of State's current perception of that role based on current national security needs. The report then provides an overview of the evolution of the DOD role and current activities in the three areas cited above, with a snapshot of the varying perspectives on the DOD roles in these areas. Finally, the report discusses issues that Congress may wish to consider. The appendices provide more detailed information on the current and most significant foreign assistance programs in which DOD plays a role.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20080825_RL34639_6f42a2d069cdde8a198d244502690c74addfba16.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20080825_RL34639_6f42a2d069cdde8a198d244502690c74addfba16.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Executive departments", "name": "Executive departments" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "National defense", "name": "National defense" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Defense policy", "name": "Defense policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Humanitarian intervention", "name": "Humanitarian intervention" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign policy", "name": "Foreign policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Disaster relief", "name": "Disaster relief" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Military civic action", "name": "Military civic action" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations", "name": "Foreign relations" } ] } ], "topics": [ "American Law", "Foreign Affairs", "Health Policy", "Intelligence and National Security", "Legislative Process", "National Defense" ] }