Click here to read Senator Feingold's excellent speech given earlier this week at the University of Wisconsin on "Public and Private Diplomacy
for the 21st Century."

Speech of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold
Reaching Out to the World - Public and Private Diplomacy
for the 21st Century

University of Wisconsin, Madison
March 24, 2008

Gilles, thank you for that kind introduction, and for your leadership in international education here at UW-Madison. I’m very proud that my alma mater has such strong programs in this area.

Economists Anita Dancs from National Priorities Project and Miriam Pemberton from the Institute for Policy Studies have written an analysis of the 09 budget proposal from the Bush Administration.

Click here to read their analysis of how the military budget continues to increase while preventive programs in development and diplomacy are cut.

While the rhetoric supporting a "3D" approach to security is increasing in Washington, the security budget continues to become more and more distorted.

Nearly 90% of security spending, excluding the supplemental appropriations for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, has been devoted to achieving security by military force.

Pulitzer Prize winning author Jared Diamond poses provocative questions about the relationship between consumption and security in his recent New York Times article "What’s Your Consumption Factor?"

Diamond claims sharing the world's resources is key to a more secure future for the global community.

While others look at impending environmental collapse as a problem of over-population, Diamond examines the rate of consumption as the key problem.

Diamond states, "The average rates at which people consume resources like oil and metals, and produce wastes like plastics and greenhouse gases, are about 32 times higher in North America, Western Europe, Japan and Australia than they are in the developing world."

Two important new reports detail the need for a change in the way the US relates to the world.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies' Smart Power Commission Report details a plan for how the U.S. should renew alliances, partnerships and institutions in the global community and do more to promote development and change current trade policies that punish poorer countries.

The HELP Commission report makes similar recommendations for investing far more resources in relating to the world through more robust diplomacy and effective development strategies. It too suggests revamping trade policies, which currently contradict US development and security goals abroad.

There is a growing set of voices in Washington from across the political spectrum and at the highest levels calling for increased funding for development and diplomacy programs in the U.S. Foreign Aid.

Click here to read the new Senate Foreign Relations Committee report called "Embassies Grapple to Guide Foreign Aid"

In a similar move, Defense Secretary Gates also called for increased funding for foreign aid last week.

The Department of Defense’s new Africa Command – AFRICOM – rightly recognizes that a secure, stable Africa is in U.S. interests. Yet it sets a distressing precedent for future “3D” inter-agency efforts under DOD rather than State Department control.

On October 1, the 3D Security Initiative convened a meeting in Washington, DC with African conflict prevention experts and a variety of NGOs to discuss the creation of AFRICOM and its implications for conflict prevention and peacebuilding NGOs.

Following further consultation directly with African conflict prevention NGOs, the 3D Security Initiative wrote the attached policy brief on Human Security Options for Africa and AFRICOM.

On Saturday November 3rd, I gave this presentation at the Annual Fulbright Conference, this year entitled "People and the Planet."

Click here to see the powerpoint presentation and the handout given out on the "10 Security Implications of Climate Change."

Please feel free to email me at schirchl@emu.edu with comments or questions.

Thanks,
Lisa Schirch

Last week I participated in a conference at the University of Pittsburgh's Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies - co-hosted with Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Stanley Foundation - entitled "Securing Our Survival: Meeting the Threats of Nuclear Weapons and Global Warming."

I joined experts on nuclear weapons and the security implications of climate change to discuss the role of diplomacy and conflict prevention in laying out the range of programs needed to increase US and global security.

You can watch my presentation on "The Role of Diplomacy and Conflict Prevention" as well as presentations by the other experts by clicking here.

Click here to link to our report on Congressional Outreach over the last year.

Highlights include a Congressional briefing on "Peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan: Building Security from the Ground Up" and an overview of our visits to over 25 Congressional offices over the last year.

Is the U.S. prepared to prevent violent conflict in countries around the world?

In July 2004, Secretary of State Colin Powell established the Office of the State Department's new Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS). The goal of S/CRS is to “lead,
coordinate, and institutionalize U.S. Government civilian capacity to prevent or prepare for post-conflict situations, and to help stabilize and reconstruct societies in transition from conflict or civil strife, so they can reach a sustainable path toward peace, democracy
and a market economy.”

The 3D Security Initiative, along with other advocacy organizations in Washington DC, supports funding for S/CRS. Building civilian capabilities for peacebuilding and conflict prevention is essential to US and global security.