The Foreign Service Journal, February 2006

sonnel detailed from other agencies. S/CRS was granted $7.7 million in a supplemental appropriation in April 2005, which helped allow for a staff expansion to 55. S/CRS’ responsibilities are straightforward, though not easy to accomplish. First, the office has put in place a process to identify potential states where a U.S. peace- building response might be required. Second, it has iden- tified the critical tasks that must be carried out if peace is to become permanent, as well as the agencies and person- nel best suited to implement them. Third, S/CRS is putting in place the interagency agreements, structures and plans to ensure that government agencies and person- nel will be capable of providing a timely and effective response. One aspect of this is the creation of an Active Response Corps, a set of pre-identified personnel who can rapidly deploy to a crisis. Finally, S/CRS is trying to build the capacity to ensure that any U.S. peacebuilding effort is unified and well planned. The planning framework for stabilization and recon- struction will be used jointly by the military and civilians. The development of an essential-task matrix has drawn from lessons learned, and has identified key issues that need to be addressed in the process of decision-making within the government. The development and testing of models of how to plan and work effectively with the mili- tary, NGOs and other actors will assist with mission plan- ning, coordination with combatant commands, and inte- F O C U S F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 35 Peter H. Gantz manages advocacy in the areas of peace operations, post-conflict rule of law operations and relat- ed foreign policy issues for Refugees International. RI generates humanitarian assistance for displaced people around the world and works to end the conditions that create displacement. Mr. Gantz also serves as the execu- tive coordinator for the Partnership for Effective Peacekeeping, a Washington, D.C.-based policy network that supports public policy initiatives to improve nation- al and global peace operations capacity. Before joining RI, he worked with Citizens for Global Solutions in Washington and the Carter Center in Atlanta. T HE R EMINGTON