Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus: Successes, Failures, and Lessons from U.S. Assistance in Crisis and Conflict

In partnership with William & Mary’s Global Research Institute (GRI) and the Gates Global Policy Center (GGPC) led by William & Mary's Chancellor and Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, this research paper was produced by AidData to accompany the second Gates Forum, held in December 2023 at William & Mary on the role of U.S. development assistance in an era of intensifying great power competition.

This research effort sought to answer a single overarching question: How might we reinvigorate development assistance to better advance America’s varied national interests (e.g., humanitarian, diplomatic, economic, and security)? Crises and conflict have become the new normal, and U.S. assistance must strike a balance: provide short-term relief to communities in distress, build long-term resilience to help countries tackle root causes of poverty and instability. This paper examines how the U.S. and other donors integrate humanitarian response, peace building, and development assistance. U.S. agencies must translate the aspirations of the Global Fragility Act into practice, steward an assistance portfolio increasingly focused on emergency response, and navigate fatigue from involvement in protracted crises with no end in sight. We surface three cross-cutting lessons for consideration.

For the complete research volume, please see [Combined Report] The Imperative to Reinvigorate U.S. Development Assistance Capabilities to Better Advance America’s National Interests.