Counter-Terrorism in 3D

Terrorist attacks of the 9/11 induced the United States to adopt an innovative ‘3D’ vision of national security based on integration of defense, diplomacy, and development and a correspondent ‘whole-of-government’ approach to countering security threats. New doctrinal principles were implemented not only on the main battlefronts of the Global War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq but on its periphery, including the Sahara-Sahel region in the framework of the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Initiative launched in 2005 and renamed as Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP) in 2007. This paper identifies the key particularities of the TSCTP as a ‘3D’ foreign aid program and provides an evaluation of its efficiency and impact.