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The role of the Conflict Prevention office in S/CRS (CP) is to:

1. Coordinate Interagency (IA) processes to identify states at risk of instability;
2. Lead IA planning to prevent or mitigate conflict;
3.  Develop prevention planning tools for integrated U.S. Government reconstruction and stabilization (R&S) efforts;
4. Coordinate preventative strategies with foreign countries, international and regional organizations, non-governmental organizations, and private sector entities.

To accomplish this, CP:

1. Oversees a global Early Warning monitoring program, that includes the National Intelligence Council (NIC) Internal Instability Watchlist;
2. Supervises intelligence support for all of S/CRS;
3. Develops interagency conflict assessment and prevention planning tools and facilitates interagency country- or region-specific application of the tools
4. Collaborates with the USG, foreign national governments and international organizations to test and refine best practices for mainstreaming conflict analysis, prevention and mitigation into USG funding streams and interagency efforts.

Early Warning

In collaboration with the NIC, State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) and Policy Planning staff (S/P), CP developed the Watchlist – a robust system for identifying countries that are vulnerable to state failure. The NIC prepares the Watchlist from various classified and unclassified sources. CP uses it to help identify priority countries that could merit assistance with conflict prevention and mitigation. The Watchlist is important in providing a baseline from which work with the Interagency Conflict Prevention Framework (ICAF) can begin. It is also a valuable tool in providing an objective measure with which to weigh the proposed countries that could potentially receive funds for reconstruction, security or stabilization, under the Section 1207 Funding process. CP also works with the interagency to monitor emerging global developments and crises that effect stability in a country or region.

Conflict Assessment

A prerequisite to effective USG efforts to prevent violent conflict and civil strife or support post-conflict stabilization and reconstruction is a shared understanding of the particular conflict dynamics at work in the country or region of concern. Under the auspices of NSPD-44, an interagency Working Group, chaired by CP and USAID’s Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation, developed the ICAF Principles document.

The ICAF is a flexible and scalable process that enables an interagency team to systematically, collaboratively assess conflict situations and make recommendations for U.S. Government planning for prevention and stabilization. The purpose of the ICAF is to develop a commonly held understanding across relevant U.S. Government agencies of the dynamics promoting and lessening violent conflict within a country that informs U.S. policy and planning decisions. It may also be used to establish a strategic baseline against which the results of U.S. engagement can be evaluated.

Conflict Prevention Planning

In 2007, CP conducted an Interagency Limited Objective Experiment to test the usefulness of a proposed approach to Interagency Conflict Prevention Planning (CPP) and explore how IA CPP can be linked into existing funding streams and coordinated across the IA including USAID, DOD as well as USG domestic agencies. CP is refining the approach and will test and revise it as appropriate in experiments, pilots and exercises in conjunction with other members of the interagency.

Training

In partnership with the Foreign Service Institute and others, S/CRS is introducing early warning, prevention and mitigation concepts and tools into training for Foreign and Civil Service Officers and is undertaking development of a research agenda designed to capture and apply lessons learned from previous U.S. Government responses to conflict.

International Partners

CP also collaborates with bilateral and multilateral partners, international and regional organizations, academic institutions, think tanks, and NGOs to support complementary approaches to addressing the structural factors that contribute to conflict and the triggers of violence.

Interagency Country Engagements

Notable efforts include field engagements in Cambodia, Haiti, Liberia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, with work done in the Washington, DC area in a variety of capacities on Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tajikistan and others.