Recent years have produced dozens of high-profile reports, articles, conferences, speeches, hearings, and initiatives that call for the strengthening of the US government’s civilian international affairs agencies. As one might expect, these efforts tend to define the problem and devise solutions in varied ways. Some focus on only one aspect of building civilian capacity such as improving foreign assistance, public diplomacy, or post-conflict reconstruction. Others look more broadly at capacities that cut across departments and agencies such as planning, budgeting, and coordination. Some stay at the level of grand strategy, avoiding operational prescriptions and concrete institutional fixes. This brief seeks to provide a 30,000-foot view of the research and advocacy initiatives proposing ways of building US government civilian capacity. The purpose is to flag remaining questions about key distinctions, tensions, gaps, and opportunities presented by the various efforts inside and outside of government.