This White Paper is intended to stimulate discussion of major policy issues surrounding development and foreign aid. It is not a statement of official U.S. Government policy. Today we are witnessing the most significant shift in awareness and understanding of international development that’s been seen since the end of World War II.The demise of the Soviet Union, the integration of global communications and markets, the growing menace of global terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and transnational crime, the surge of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases—all these are hallmarks of an altered 21st century landscape for development. Failed states and complex emergencies now occupy center screen among the nation’s foreign policy and national security officials. Americans now understand that security in their homeland greatly depends on security, freedom, and opportunity beyond the country’s borders. Development is now as essential to U.S. national security as are diplomacy and defense.,,, Bureau for Policy and Program Coordination U.S.Agency for International Development January 2004