The below is a letter to the editor of the Dec. 3 The Washington Post.

This is very much to the point of development being the third "D" in USG foreign policy tools, along with diplomacy and defense.

Tony Blair was right when he stated that “development
progress depends on governance and
growth” [“In a generation, an end to global aid,”
op-ed, Nov. 27].

Mr. Blair called for rich countries to help poor
ones build systems to implement development plans
and tackle poverty. Of course, the most fundamental
service of government is to protect its citizens from
violence, but in the poorest countries, basic law
enforcement may be the most broken system of all.

Mr. Blair left unnamed the epidemic of unchecked
everyday violence against the poor that sabotages
the best of development investments, costing billions
of dollars in lost productivity and ruined lives.

Development professionals and donor governments
recognize that criminal violence is destroying
countries when it reaches the level of Mexico’s drug
war or Central America’s free-fire zones. But rampant
sexual violence, labor slavery, human trafficking
and illegal detention undermine development in
most poor countries. Innovative and effective ways
to help governments deter violent crime against the
poor and vulnerable are desperately needed.

Gary Haugen, Washington
The writer is president and CEO of the human rights organization
International Justice Mission.