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3D Security Overview

Security requires a 3D “whole-of-government” strategy of development, diplomacy and defense. Development and diplomacy should be the first resort for preventing violent conflict, ensuring that defense strategies are truly a last resort. 

Conflict prevention efforts are a financial investment; avoiding expensive military operations through cost-effective local programs that achieve sustainable results. Conflict prevention can build bridges and help to stabilize communities, preventing the outbreak of disease, discontent, and violence.    


Conflict prevention and peacebuilding programs prevent, reduce, transform, and help people recover from violence. They address the root causes of economic, political, environmental, and social instability through a wide range of programs such as job creation, reconciliation between conflicting groups, democratization of decision-making, environmentallysustainable development, and training in conflict resolution skills.

Civil society builds security from the ground up in partnership with government and the international community in a “whole-of-community” effort.Civil society organizations (CSOs) play important roles in conflict prevention, stabilization, reconstruction and peacebuilding. CSOs lay foundations for development, human rights, sustainable environments, and good governance. CSOs facilitate dialogue and promote tolerance between groups.  CSO networks provide early warning for impending violence and support transitional justice and security sector reform. 

                                               3d

Defense: Aims to protect civilians, separate armed groups to help defuse tensions, stabilize communities, allow time for diplomacy, disarm aggressors, and suppress violence, allowing space for other conflict prevention programs.

Diplomacy: Builds relationships, creates forums and procedures for constructive political engagement between conflicting groups through dialogue, negotiation, mediation, and other strategies to engage diverse stakeholders, identify shared goals, manage conflicting interests, and build working relationships to reduce stereotyping and discrimination between groups to build support for the rule of law, and a culture of peace, coexistence, and democratic values.

Development: Creates jobs, strengthens local democratic political institutions, addresses competition over natural resources and builds the capacity of communities and governments to address root causes of poverty and economic disparity by investing in education and healthcare and basic infrastructure and skills needed to meet basic needs.

A 3D approach to security and conflict prevention links to the concept of human security.  Human Security places a focus on the safety and protection of individuals and communities, in addition to the traditional security concerns of the state. It asks a different set of questions: What do individuals and communities need in order to be safe and secure?

Human Security requires increasing our investments in development and diplomacy, as these approaches help to prevent conflict and build peace. The U.S. spends less than 5% of the discretionary federal budget on development and diplomacy while it spends over 60% of the
discretionary federal budget on defense.