3D Security Initiative

US Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates promotes a 3D approach to US foreign policy that relies more on the cost-effective, preventive strategies of development and diplomacy than it does on the 'last resort' strategy of defense.

In his article A Balanced Strategy Reprogramming the Pentagon for a New Age published in the January 2009 edition of Foreign Affairs, Secretary Gates argues "over the long term, the United States cannot kill or capture its way to victory."

Gates argues that military efforts "should be subordinated to measures aimed at promoting better governance, economic programs that spur development, and efforts to address the grievances among the discontented, from whom the terrorists recruit."

In the conclusion, Secretary Gates writes, "I have learned many things in my 42 years of service in the national security arena. Two of the most important are an appreciation of limits and a sense of humility. The United States is the strongest and greatest nation on earth, but there are still limits on what it can do. The power and global reach of its military have been an indispensable contributor to world peace and must remain so. But not every outrage, every act of aggression, or every crisis can or should elicit a U.S. military response."

The 3D Security Initiative looks forward to a sea change in Washington as leaders in Congress and the Administration pave a new way forward.

-Lisa Schirch