f. TOPIC. Inclusive Planning – Expanding the 3D Planning Concept
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Observation.
While the Diplomacy, Development, and Defense Planning Group (3DPG)
represents a significant step toward improved collaboration among the pillars
responsible for promoting and protecting U.S. interests abroad, achieving
maximum effect requires inclusion of more stakeholders in the 3D planning
process.
Discussion.
As fiscal constraints focus government agencies on prioritized tasks, fully
leveraging all stakeholders in foreign development and partner capacity-building
enable the 3Ds to do more, or at least the same, with fewer resources. Under an
assumption of American public disdain for military nation-building created by 13
years of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, the likelihood of military employment in
a role of conflict prevention increases in comparison to the likelihood of military
employment to force change. Three of the ten U.S. Armed Forces primary
missions provided in the President’s “Priorities for 21st Century Defense” tie
directly to the need for greater development collaboration. Providing a Stabilizing
Presence, Conducting Stability and Counterinsurgency Operations, and Conducting Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief Operations all imply military effort
supporting U.S. national interests through development or more preventative
approaches.
This conflict prevention approach not only increases the frequency and intensity
of Department of Defense (DoD) interaction with the Department of State (DoS)
and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), but also the level of
interaction with all development donors and stakeholders. A fiscally-mandated
drive for greater efficiency and effect by the 3Ds with decreasing resources
generates an urgency for more inclusive planning to create synergy from all
stakeholders. These interested parties include other U.S. Government (USG)
agencies, international organizations (IOs), and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs).
The building blocks for increased collaborative effort across development stakeholders already exist. Combatant Command Theater Campaign Plans, USAID
Country Development Cooperation Strategies (CDCS), and the Department of
State Strategic Plan provide frameworks for determining common goals and
interests among the 3Ds. This identification enables determination of areas
where other stakeholder resources and expertise offer a synergistic opportunity
toward more efficiently and effectively realizing U.S. objectives. The presence of
non-3D stakeholders in a country or region of interest is inevitable and beyond
the ability of the U.S. to fully regulate or control. As such, aligning their efforts, or
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