Global Security: in Search of a New Vision - Center for Strategic ...

Chapter 28
Deal ing with Cri ses in Iraq and the Mid dle East—The
Importance of Civil-Military Integration
Ms. Renée S. Acosta 1
OPENING REMARKS
What I have to offer today is a dif fer ent per spec tive, some infor ma tion, a descrip tion of some
pro jects under way, and some ideas for the future. I can plainly say that the world’s rich est
nations are heavily depend ent on the surg ing growth of the less devel oped nations for their,
and par en thet i cally for our, future pros per ity. I can also say that devel op ing nations have obliged this
depend ence by open ing their mar kets to trade and for eign invest ment on an unprec e dented scale—look
at the recently announced agree ment between China and Angola. But as these mar kets open and expand,
what is our respon si bil ity
All of us have respon si bil ity: gov ern ments, the pri vate sec tor, and NGOs. In the past those respon si -
bil i ties were spe cific to each sec tor, and that is where the com plex i ties lie. While gov ern ments have been
tra di tion ally respon si ble for infra struc ture, safety, secu rity, edu ca tion, and so on, there is now a blur ring
of roles between gov ern ments, the pri vate sec tor, and non-gov ern men tal orga ni za tions. This is well
understood by those at this workshop.
At Global Impact, we devel oped a chart (see next page) that expresses our view of the “course of his -
tory” regarding humanitarian relief and development.
The desired end state is nat u rally the fourth quad rant: sustainability.
THE ROAD TO SUSTAINABILITY
We begin in the first quad rant, with the pre ferred route of pre ven tion mov ing straight for wardly
through devel op ment to sustainability. But as fate would have it, a sit u a tion devel ops and some early
warn ings emerge. This sit u a tion could be the south Asia tsu nami, the Leb a non con flict, or the Myanmar
or China disas ters, to name just a few. So we all rally and hence we aban don devel op ment and move
quickly to relief or, as expressed in the sec ond quad rant of my chart, pre pared ness and relief. This
involves scram bling for resources, locat ing resources, get ting them to the loca tion—all with lit tle or no
1
Ms. Renée S. Acosta is President and CEO of Global Impact.