Tag: USAID
Development assistance has adapted to circumstances, but China looms
Friday February 12 Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service convened the Transatlantic Policy Symposium (TAPS), an annual conference organized by the graduate students of the BMW Center for German and European Studies. The conference brought together academics and professionals from around the world to discuss transatlantic cooperation and development assistance in the developing world. Speakers and their affiliations are listed below:
Speakers
Dr. Anne-Marie Gulde Wolf: Deputy Director for Asia and Pacific, International Monetary Fund
Eric Kite: Deputy Director, Caribbean Affairs, United States Agency for International Development
Helga Flores Trejo: Vice President, Global Public Affairs International Organizations, Bayer AG
Recent Changes in Development Assistance
Each of the three panelists elucidated key changes among their respective institutions with regards to development assistance. Kite explained that USAID traditionally engaged primarily in bilateral, state-to-state assistance programs. Over time, however, multilateral organizations have grown dramatically and now dwarf the size of USAID. The US government has correspondingly shifted its development assistance from bilateral to multilateral frameworks.
Gulde Wolf emphasized that the IMF has likewise changed its strategic focus over the years. While the IMF’s original mission consisted largely of short-term loans and financing, by the 1980s the IMF began to offer more long-term loans to low-income countries and increased its emphasis on capacity building and technical assistance, understanding that no amount of loans are sufficient if countries fail to also develop good economic policy. The IMF now has three major areas of interest
- emergency lending to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has provided assistance to 50 countries to date,
- developing sound macroeconomic policy to address global climate change,
- debt management and debt restructuring in low-income countries to address a long-term debt crisis that the pandemic has exacerbated.
Flores Trejo also noted several recent changes in the development sphere. She echoed the sentiments of Kite that development has become more cooperative and partner-based. To that end, the private sector–including NGOs, foundations, and corporations–has become increasingly involved in major development programs around the world. Development actors have begun to see their work more holistically, including linking development to foreign and defense policy, as well as an understanding that successful development requires a global approach. Uneven development will ultimately be counterproductive.
Partnership and Development Assistance
Given that development programming has become more holistic and more diverse, the panelists also reflected on the problems and promises of partnership across institutions.
Flores Trejo in particular reflected on the importance of governments cooperating and partnering with the private sector to implement development programs. She pointed to the most recent iteration of the Edelman Trust Barometer, which indicates a major decline in public trust for both the government and the media. Notably, however, companies and the private sector writ large have a higher degree of public trust than government, which can potentially bridge the credibility gap by partnering with the private sector to implement programming.
Kite similarly stressed the importance of cooperation for USAID. He emphasized that local actors in partner countries are crucial for both information gathering and implementation. However, he also argued that USAID has traditionally cooperated best with organizations and countries that have shared values. China, however, has posed a unique problem for the US as it has dramatically increased its own development assistance in direct opposition to the strategic interests of the US.
Gulde Wolf argued that the IMF has been uniquely successful at working collaboratively to address development issues. She attributed the organization’s success in this area in large part to the near universal membership of the IMF, which encourages broad partnership. Like Kite, she also believed that the emergence of China as a major development actor has presented challenges to the debtor-creditor relationship. However, she also clarified that the IMF has little ability to address these particular emerging challenges.
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Stevenson’s army, September 9
When I see a think tank or commission report that suggests better ways to make national security policy, I’m eager to share the ideas even if I’m skeptical of some of them. I spent 3 years working on the Project on National Security Reform, which produced an 800-page study with good ideas, only a few of which actually were put into place. I assign my spring course the excellent Process Makes Perfect report by Kori Schake and William Wechsler. And so when I saw the Less Art, More Science report by a group called FP21, I downloaded it for me and for you.
Since no authors were listed, I was curious and discovered FP21 is an offshoot of National Security Action, an organization of mostly careerist and Democratic appointees, many of whom I know and admire. The trouble with the Less Art, More Science report, however, is that it presumes that with more data and more strategic thinking, we will make better policy. I’m all for that approach, but I know from years of study that most big problems are too hard. The goals are multiple and priorities change and conflict [Strengthen the government but avoid corruption; build up the army and guarantee civilian control; punish human rights violators but don’t undermine US companies and their trade]. The report even had a template for policy memos that is sensible but could easily become a rigid checklist. Anyway, read it for the good parts.
Sen. Ben Sasse [R-Neb] has his own list of congressional reforms.
New America has report on “brain drain” of congressional staff.
FT says China is offering the Taliban roads for peace.
Australian insurgency expert says US is on brink of “incipient insurgency.”
Politico says USAID is shutting down its coronavirus task force; reasons unclear.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, September 4
Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg cites 4 unnamed sources to report disparaging remarks Pres. Trump made about US military personnel, including calling war dead “losers.”
AP has confirmed the story. [Since Goldberg is close to Jim Mattis, I suspect Mattis and John Kelly as likely sources.]
WSJ says WH is likely to nominate Koch Institute analyst who favors rapid US withdrawal as ambassador to Afghanistan. Previous ambassadors were career diplomats.
FP says political appointee to USAID conflict prevention bureau has done damage there.
SAIS prof Ed Joseph has background on Serbia-Kosovo conflict with WH meeting today.
A student in Congress class shares a “reform Congress’ article from the late John DIngell [D-Mich].
CJR editor explains how ratings drive TV news coverage at CNN and MSNBC
Reuters reports US troops to Lithuania because of Belarus unrest.
More from Military Times poll: troops want to rename bases.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, July 11
– CNBC says USAID is being politicized by new political appointees.
– NYT has similar complaints about DHS.
-David Sanger et al. have more details about attack on Iran nuclear facility and likely future acts by Iran and US.
– So what’s the difference between a commutation and a pardon? The bland lawyer explanation is this. But Kevin Drum adds this:
Someone who gets a pardon can no longer invoke the Fifth Amendment as a justification for refusing to testify in court. If Stone were called in some other case, he’d be required to spill any beans he had. But if I understand the law correctly, a commutation is more limited. The conviction stands, and the possibility of putting yourself in further jeopardy remains. Thus your Fifth Amendment rights stand.
So if you wanted to help out a buddy, but you also wanted to make sure he couldn’t be forced to provide dangerous testimony in the future, commutation sure seems like the best bet, doesn’t it?
– I love mayonnaise, so I was intrigued by WSJ article on its history.
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Peace Picks August 8-12
- Technology: Improving Elections One Bit Or Byte At A Time? | Tuesday, August 9th | 3:15 pm -4:45 pm | Pew Charitable Trusts – Research Facility| Click HERE for more information | Election apps, online tools, electronic poll books, and more, are changing every aspect of the elections process. What role do legislators play in adopting new technology? What is the price for implementing new voting tools? And what about the human factor—how does all this impact voters and poll workers? Speakers will include David Becker of the Pew Charitable Trusts, Washington, D.C.; Matthew Mastersonof the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, Maryland; and Amber McReynolds, Denver Elections Division, Colorado
- Women And The SDGs: Partner Perspectives | Tuesday, August 9th | 4:00pm -6:00pm | Woodrow Wilson Center| Click HERE to register | Please join Plan International USA and the Woodrow Wilson Center for a practical discussion on how various partners can and should work together to move the SDG needle for women and girls. The panelists will share their perspectives and the challenges they face, and discuss what the SDGs really mean for women globally. To enhance the conversation, 26 women leaders from 18 countries participating in Plan’s Global Women in Management program will also be in attendance to share their views from the field. Speakers include Tony Pipa, Chief Strategy Officer at USAID; Natalie Co, Senior Manager at Accenture Development Partnerships; Roger-Mark de Souza, Director of Population, Environmental Security, and Resilience, Woodrow Wilson Center; and Xolile Manyoni, Project Coordinator/Co-founder, Sinamandla, South Africa (Global Women in Management participant, Plan USA). The discussion will be moderated by Ann Hudock, Senior Vice President for International Programs at Plan International USA. The discussion will be from 4-5pm, with a reception to follow from 5-6pm
- Teaching The Middle East Through Art, Music, And Culture | Wednesday, August 10th | 9:00am -3:00pm | Elliott School of International Affairs| Click HERE to register | This workshop will help K-12 educators develop strategies to look beyond the dominant narratives of conflict and violence in the Middle East and instead teach students about the region through its wide array of peoples and cultures. Along with presentations from leading scholars, we will engage discussions and activities, and distribute information to help educators access resources on teaching about the Middle East. Speakers include Ted Swedenburg, Professor of Anthropology, University of Arkansas and Hisham Aidi, Lecturer, Columbia University.
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