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The Power of Civ-Mil Partnerships in Fragile State Development: A CSIS Panel Discussion Featuring Motive CEO Morgan Keay

The Power of Civ-Mil Partnerships in Fragile State Development: A CSIS Panel Discussion Featuring Motive CEO Morgan Keay

In May 2017, Motive CEO Morgan Keay was a featured panelist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) at an event entitled “The Role of Multi-Sector Partnerships in the New Development Era.” CSIS hosted this half-day event at the start of the Trump Administration when U.S. foreign assistance budgets faced significant cuts. The panel Morgan spoke on was asked to explore creative options to better leverage capital – financial or otherwise – through cross-sector partnerships, specifically in conflict-affected and fragile states. 

Opening her remarks with the statement, “Conflict affects all sectors of society and therefore takes all sectors of society to address." Morgan confronted an idea considered to be heretical by many in the international development and diplomacy communities: expanded partnerships with the military can advance development and humanitarian goals. To make the case, Morgan offered a story about a real-world case study: a World Bank-funded road construction project through the heart of extremist-affected territory in West Africa’s Lake Chad Basin. This example illustrates what happened when local civil society, the host country’s military, and the U.S. military came together around a violence-plagued infrastructure project to transform human security in the region.