{"id":4816,"date":"2008-08-15T14:20:47","date_gmt":"2008-08-15T18:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/?p=4816"},"modified":"2012-02-06T15:35:46","modified_gmt":"2012-02-06T19:35:46","slug":"3d-security-draws-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/peacebuilder\/2008\/08\/3d-security-draws-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"‘3D Security’ Draws Attention"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lisa Schirch. Photo by Matthew Styer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From Queen Noor to Congress<\/h3>\n

When CJP professor Lisa Schirch<\/a> launched the 3D Security Initiative in November 2006, she had no way of knowing how long it might take for 3D to gain the attention of top decisionmakers in this country.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the months, years or even decades that might be required, Schirch committed herself to advocating for a different approach to national security \u2013 one which doesn\u2019t rely on simply one \u201cD\u201d in the \u201c3D toolkit,\u201d the tool of Defense. Real security, Schirch argued, rests on a foundation of two more \u201cD\u201d tools: Diplomacy and Development.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt I owed it to the students I teach, who often come from war zones in foreign countries,\u201d she told Peacebuilder. \u201cThey\u2019d say, \u2018It is great you\u2019re teaching us about peacebuilding, but what is EMU doing to change U.S. foreign policy?\u2019 I came to feel that I had a duty to work directly at influencing the policies and actions of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, Schirch\u2019s campaign on behalf of diplomacy and development garnered attention almost immediately. Six months after 3D Security was launched, Schirch was named \u201cModern Mother of Peace\u201d by the Ploughshares Foundation, one of seven women in the world to receive this recognition. (One of the others recognized was Susan Granada, MA \u201901<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Major Foundation Honors Schirch<\/h3>\n

Announcing the honor on the occasion of \u201cRediscover Mothers Day,\u201d the Ploughshares Foundation noted: \u201cStarting when she was a 20-year-old college student volunteering in a Costa Rican refugee camp for Nicaraguans, Lisa has worked to end conflict and build security, applying her commitment and skills to projects in Lebanon, Taiwan, Ghana and other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Queen Noor of Jordan, the honorary chair of the \u201cRediscover Mothers Day\u201d campaign, praised Schirch on CNN for her efforts to use \u201cdevelopment projects, like building schools and water wells, to disarm conflicts from Lebanon to Ghana.\u201d Schirch and her husband William Goldberg have two children, a 7-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son.<\/p>\n

Schirch directs the program from her base at EMU\u2019s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding in Harrisonburg, Va., while 3D Policy Director Lynn Kunkle is based in Washington D.C. \u201cSome of my students have been a great help in this effort, as have my academic colleagues, whose advice I particularly welcome,\u201d says Schirch. The 3D Security Initiative has collaborated with respected thinktanks to persuade policymakers to work with other countries to solve problems diplomatically. The Initiative also urges leaders to address the economic roots of many conflicts.<\/p>\n

In a letter published December 5, 2007, in the Congressional newspaper The Hill, Schirch argued for aid programs to receive more federal dollars, noting that \u201cUSAID programs in good governance, economic development, education and healthcare are a humanitarian imperative, but they also create an architecture that grows security from the ground up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing List of Accomplishments<\/h3>\n

With funding from the Ploughshares Foundation and Compton Foundation, over the last year, the 3D Security Initiative:<\/p>\n