During a series of meetings that GII co-hosted with the 3D Security Initiative last fall, we heard repeatedly from participants in uniform how many in the Pentagon were calling for more and better civilian capacity in the development, diplomacy and peacebuilding fields. Yet even with the creation of the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS) in the State Department and talk of a civilian reconstruction corps, development and diplomacy remain the small "D's" and defense remains the big one.

So it's something to hear Defense Secretary Robert Gates call for "a dramatic increase in spending on the civilian instruments of national security — diplomacy, strategic communications, foreign assistance, civic action and economic reconstruction and development,” at Kansas State University on Monday. As the Campaign for US Global Leadership points out, a host of reports have called for more parity between the "3 D's," including the 2006 National Security Strategy, the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review, and the 9/11 Commission Report. Now, let's see Gates lobby Congress to get it done.