Foreign Assistance: Strengthen the "Third Pillar" of National Security

"Foreign assistance has long been an important component of U.S. foreign and national security policy. U.S. citizens have always been generous in providing emergency funds to victims of famines, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. They have also funded, primarily through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), long-term programs to alleviate poverty, improve education and health, encourage good governance and democracy, and promote economic growth in scores of poor countries around the world. We fund these programs for humanitarian reasons and for our own self-interest. History shows that extremist ideologies take root more easily in impoverished societies, and that instability in one country can spread to others, often leading to conflict. Prosperous countries make better partners and better customers." (Human Rights) Author Richard G. Lugar contends that "in the years following the terrorist attacks of September 11 , 2001 , it has become clear that these two strains of our foreign assistance efforts, the humanitarian impulse and the security imperative, are mutually reinforcing. Good governance, sustainable and equitable economies, and just societies are objectives that are part of our government's key strategic challenge to protect U.S. citizens from harm by an aggressive worldwide terrorist movement."