Beyond Boundaries in Eastern Africa: Bridging the Security/Development Divide With International Security Assistance

As a direct result of globalization and expanded economic opportunity, the last half century has yielded the most remarkable exodus from poverty in human history. Regrettably, not all have benefited equally. No more somber example of this continued disparity can be found than in sub-Saharan Africa—a region plagued by a myriad of security and development challenges, from the spread of infectious disease, to small arms trafficking, to terrorism.

In this report, Stimson Center coauthors Brian Finlay, senior associate and director of the Managing Across Boundaries program, and Johan Bergenas, research associate, along with Stanley Center associate program officer Veronica Tessler, hone in on the Eastern Africa subregion and propose a “whole of society” approach that seeks to better leverage existing resources, identify new streams of assistance, and bridge the divide between security and development. The report is the third in a series that seeks innovative approaches to implementing UN Security Council Resolutions 1540 and 1373 by pragmatically pairing states in need of development assistance with those states willing to offer such assistance under the auspices of national security.