Patrick W. Quirk and Richmond Blake
The Biden administration will face a multiplicity of challenges on day one. Armed conflict and instability in countries that matter for U.S. interests will be chief among them. From Ethiopia to the Northern Triangle (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador), armed violence remains an unfortunately pervasive and persistent element of the national security threat landscape. Intra-state violence had already been rising before the pandemic began its global sweep, but COVID-19 has exacerbated many factors underlying fragility and associated instability.
The Biden administration has an opportunity to address this challenge by effectively implementing the first-ever U.S. Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability.” Released by the national security agencies on December 18, the strategy is the foundational requirement of the bipartisan 2019 Global Fragility Act (GFA), envisioned as a PEPFAR-for-conflict-prevention.