THINK PIECE 21 01 Providing Security in Times of ­Uncertainty: Implications of the Reflection Group’s Final Report for the United States and Recommen­dations for U.S. Foreign Assistance by Dr. Ann L. Phillips REFLECTION GROUP FINAL PAPER INTRODUCTION Security is under siege across the globe. Monopoly on the use of force, always contested but long regarded as the cornerstone of ­sovereignty, stability and development, is under siege as well. At the end of the Cold War hopes were high for a new era of peace and growing prosperity. The hopes were fleeting, however. The bipo­lar world was replaced by a multipolar landscape in which rising and declining powers contend for influence. The number and scope of deadly conflicts is again increasing after a brief respite at the end of the 20th and the first years of the 21st centuries. Great power rival­ries, mass movements of refugees, agile extremist movements, cyber­crimes, international traffickers in arms, drugs and people unsettle the international landscape. Many of the same factors plus insurgencies, national criminal gangs, anti-government militias undermine security and order within states. The combination of threats has spurred a resurgence in military, law enforcement and intelligence spending at the expense of investment in sustainable economic development, social improvements and public goods other than security. Why has insecurity become the hallmark of our time? What role can and should the state and monopoly on the use of force play in estab­lishing or reestablishing security? How do the many non-state actors in the security space contribute to security or insecurity? The Reflec­tion Group’s final report,“Providing Security in Times of Uncertainty,” distills the findings of a two-year effort by more than 20 experts from different countries and different parts of the globe to find answers to these questions and to offer recommendations on how to overcome rising insecurity and its attendant ills. This paper examines the practical application of the report’s findings to the United States and U.S. foreign assistance. It then offers recom­mendations for U.S. assistance to counter current adverse trends. To do this, the report’s findings are first summarized.