An Interview with Donald Steinberg officers are striped-pants diplomats who are most comfortable working with foreign minis- tries and other government officials in capital cities, and that USAID officers are in cargo pants, getting their hands dirty working with civil society and grassroots populations in the countryside. To the extent that this stereotype was true in the past, the lines are merging these days under Secretary [Hillary] Clinton’s vision of an operational State Department and a fully empowered USAID. You will find many State Department officials in the field negotiating agreements at local levels, linking with law- yers’ groups and women’s organizations, and taking American diplomacy to the people. At the same time, you find USAID officials with Ph.D.s working with prime ministers, finance ministers, and foreign ministries in capitals. The QDDR [Quadrennial Diplomacy and John Harrington Development Review] and other documents define a multifaceted, team-based approach After a career at the Department of State, working under our Chiefs of Mission author- and now serving as Deputy Administrator at ity in which the State Department drives the the U.S. Agency for International Development diplomatic agenda and USAID drives the [USAID], how would you characterize the development agenda. We recognize that these differences in organizational culture between roles may overlap, for example, insofar as dip- State and USAID? lomatic initiatives can promote development by engaging governments on issues such as Ambassador Steinberg: I think the empha- creating the proper environment for trade and sis on cultural differences is overstated. There is foreign investment, ensuring that all elements a traditional assumption that State Department of society are engaged in establishing goals for Ambassador Donald Steinberg is Deputy Administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development. PRISM 3, no. 2 INTERVIEW | 157 STEINBERG equitable and inclusive development, and so on. administration goals. This is especially true It’s all about maximizing the influence that we in conflict situations around the world where can have in a particular country or region, and USAID’s role in supporting stabilization opera- using the proper tools for the challenge at hand. tions will be affected by the security situation. In these environments, we will continue to The development space is a lot more work with our colleagues from Defense and crowded, though, with the State Department State in order to determine the best approach. and Department of Defense [DOD] working in areas such as security sector reform and How do you envision the relationship public safety. How has USAID adjusted to evolving between USAID and the State that greater density of personnel from other Department’s new Bureau for Conflict and agencies in the same space? Stabilization Operations [CSO]? Ambassador Steinberg: There are now Ambassador Steinberg: The proliferation more than two dozen separate U.S. Government of conflict situations abroad makes it clear that agencies that have a role in the international there’s room enough for many actors in this development arena. While USAID accounts space. Ambassador Rick Barton is uniquely for just over half of the total development positioned to lead the CSO bureau given spending abroad, the Defense, State, Health his long history of engagement with U.S. and Human Services (including [the Centers Government agencies and international orga- for Disease Control and Prevention]), Justice nizations. For example, in his role as Deputy Departments, and other agencies are significant [United Nations] High Commissioner for actors as well. We welcome this engagement Refugees and his founding role in creating since it means greater resources, greater exper- the USAID Office of Transition Initiatives tise, and greater capacity to contribute. The [OTI], Ambassador Barton pushed processes QDDR states clearly that the default position that ensured collaborative approaches among is that the USAID mission director serves as the civil society, donor and host governments, and Chief of Mission’s principal assistance advisor, international organizations. He understands and this means that USAID needs to coordi- that in pursuing the Secretary’s vision of a nate the various types of development assistance more operational State Department response flowing into a country. This involves USAID to conflict situations, we need to avoid redun- serving in an inclusive leadership role, where it dancies and work respectfully toward common drives mutually agreed upon development goals goals. At USAID we have, for example, within and empowers the priorities, talents, skills, and our Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and resources of other U.S. Government agencies. Humanitarian Assistance, core capabilities to We’ve said for a long time that no agency has address prevention, response, and recovery in a monopoly on resources, on ground truth, on areas suffering from shocks or conflict. good ideas, or on moral authority. Equally important, CSO will help ensure There will also be times when USAID consistency and common purpose among the has to be an inclusive follower, where we use many State actors in this arena, including our skills and resources to support broader the Bureaus of International Narcotics and 158 | INTERVIEW PRISM 3, no. 2 STEINBERG Law Enforcement; Population, Refugees, and OTI is populated mostly by contract Migration, and others. employees. Has USAID thought of creating a career path for the kinds of officers who work Has USAID given thought to the in OTI and are frequently deployed to these problem of rapid turnover in the kinds of kinds of areas? conflict-ridden environments that you are talking about? In other words, how do we get Ambassador Steinberg: We have a de people to commit to more than 1 year? facto system in effect in the form of a broad pool of personal services contractors who work Ambassador Steinberg: Absolutely. As for us time and again in these situations. We a good example, in July 2011, Administrator call quickly on these individuals, who have Rajiv Shah launched a new 2-year pilot pro- proven their capabilities in the field, when we gram, the AfPak [Afghanistan-Pakistan] Hands need people for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, program. The basic principle of the program is Tunisia, Yemen, or elsewhere. They have the to use our Foreign Service Limited Officers, who skills we need, whether it’s in transitional jus- serve for up to 5 years, to develop specializa- tice, domestic governance, local government, or tions in the AfPak region. An officer will serve employment generation. This gives us the flex- for a year in Afghanistan or Pakistan; return ibility we need to get the right kind of exper- to Washington to work in a related area such tise for stabilization and complex development as food security, health, or gender issues for environments when we need it. The system that region; and then return into the field. In works well and we have quickly ramped up in addition, we’ve already noted that about 25 a number of situations that required immediate percent of our officials in these countries are attention. So if you go back to proven perform- now requesting extensions. But I don’t want to ers time and again, it’s very similar to having a underestimate the difficult challenge of dealing dedicated corps. with these environments from a human perspec- tive. I’ve served in a number of hardship posts, Where is the Civilian Response Corps including the Central African Republic in my idea going? Is USAID actually developing first tour and, more recently, as Ambassador in a viable expeditionary capability? How are Angola from 1995 to 1998. I understand the these people being deployed? physical and emotional effects of living con- stantly in insecure situations, hearing gunfire Ambassador Steinberg: Last year, the everywhere, watching aircraft go down, and wit- Office of Civilian Response at USAID deployed nessing colleagues being killed or injured. The some 38 staff members to 27 countries around last thing we want to do is subject our officials the world. They provided about 6,200 days of to psychological challenges like post-traumatic support in the field for efforts related to civil stress disorder or create family problems from engineering, conflict mitigation, rule of law, overly lengthy assignments. logistics, administration, and other technical areas of expertise. It’s also important to have You mentioned the Foreign Service experts on gender given that women are both Officer and OTI as a well-known brand. the primary victims of conflict and are key to PRISM 3, no. 2 INTERVIEW | 159 STEINBERG the successful conclusion of peace processes and development. To this end, we have organized postconflict reconstruction and reconciliation. a new initiative to focus on smart planning The program has been very successful so far. In for areas of chronic crisis. particular, our Civilian Response Corps dem- onstrated an immediate capacity to respond in DOD now has tens of thousands of South Sudan as the country was moving from personnel with extensive experience in an uncertain past to its referendum in January areas traditionally thought of as within the 2011 and its independence the following July. development domain—such as infrastructure Right now we have Civilian Response development, governance, public security, Corps supporting many crisis hot spots includ- security sector reform, and even economic ing Libya, Tunisia, Senegal,