Made up of diplomats, development specialists, public health officials, law enforcement and corrections officers, engineers, economists, lawyers, public administrators, agronomists and others, the volunteer members of the Civilian Response Corps are prepared to deploy to the nations in crisis within 48-72 hours. Once in-country, CRC teams assist in restoring civil stability and rule of law, and in achieving long-term economic recovery and sustainable growth.
The CRC is currently comprised of 250 active members and up to 2000 reserve members. In addition, the State Department plans to add as many as 2000 CRC reserve volunteers from the private sector and state and local governments in the future.
"These individuals would coordinate a 'whole of government' effort to support foreign leaders and citizens in stabilizing and rebuilding their states - and, if possible, to prevent conflict and state failure from taking place in the first place," said Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice in announcing the CRC.
The Guidelines of Reconstruction
What kind of "whole of government," government does Sec. Rice intend for the CRC members to offer the leaders of the nations in crisis? The United States kind, of course.
In helping to rebuild war-torn nations, the CRC will apply the Post Conflict Reconstruction Essentials Tasks Matrix, an ambitious State Department document that basically represents a set of instructions for building and maintaining a nation based on a democratic form of government, from creating a constitution, to forming a political system, holding elections and even setting up local governments.
"In a world as increasingly interconnected as ours, the international state system is only as strong as its weakest links. We cannot afford another situation like the one that emerged in 2001 in Afghanistan," stated Sec. Rice. "And yet, supporting leaders and citizens who seek to rebuild after conflict, to strengthen their state institutions, or at times even to build new institutions of governance that are effective, legitimate, and accountable to their people – often in a state not totally at war nor totally at peace, but where there is a continuum between war and peace – this is a mission that requires the integration of security, diplomacy, and development."
