Last fall the GII convened several meetings that examined the role the Department of Defense is playing in delivering U.S. official development assistance. Stewart Patrick, a frequent contributor to our discussions last year, weighed in this week with a new report posted to the Center for Global Development site.

The report is particularly useful if you're interested in drilling down into the budget numbers to see what foreign policy and development activities DoD is engaged in, and where. Amazingly, "The Pentagon now handles more than 20 percent of U.S. official development assistance (ODA), up from 6 percent only five years ago." Of course, much of this is being spent in Afghanistan and Iraq, unique situations that muddy the numbers. Patrick and fellow researcher Kaysie Brown are most interested in whether ramped up DoD assistance will create a new status quo that shifts responsibilities from civilian government agencies toward DoD in the future.

One more piece of the foreign assistance pie to hold your breath about as we wait for resolution to the (slowly) unfolding drama between the State Department and USAID.