Reactions to QDDR, Continued
December 17th, 2010 by Evan
The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)
released a statement praising the State Department’s Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) for making democracy and governance programming “a primary focus area.” IFES specifically commended the State Department for creating a Senior Advisor position on Civil Society and Emerging Democracies, establishing an Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, and the launching of a Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance at USAID. The Council on Foreign Relations also
published analysis of the report from four of its scholars,
Laurie Garrett,
Yanzhong Huang,
Isobel Coleman, and
Paul Stares.
Posted in Diplomacy, Foreign Aid | Comment »
State Launches Foreign Aid Information Site
December 17th, 2010 by Evan
The State Department launched the first incarnation of the
Foreign Assistance Dashboard Thursday. The new website provides visual representations of the U.S. foreign assistance budget and gives users access to raw data. The site currently has data available for the State Department and USAID, but will be expanded to include figures from the Departments of Labor, Defense, Treasury, and Agriculture, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Export-Import Bank of the U.S., and Peace Corp.
Posted in Foreign Aid | Comment »
Reactions to the QDDR
December 16th, 2010 by Jason
The release of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) has so far been received with cautious optimism. Josh Rogin writes that several development NGOs have “praised” the QDDR, while also expressing skepticism: “Paul O’Brien, vice president of policy and advocacy campaigns for Oxfam America, noted that while the QDDR clearly puts ambassadors and chiefs of missions at the head of country teams as the so-call ‘CEOs’ of American diplomacy, it doesn’t tackle how the inevitable conflicts between short-term foreign policy objectives and longer-term development goals are resolved.”
Connie Veillette, writing at the Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance blog, says that there are “many things to like,” including a “focus on improving hiring, staffing, and filling the mid-level gap through more flexible mechanisms.” However, she does list several points of “unfinished business,” including “how will State and USAID grapple with managing more than two dozen government agencies engaged in some type of foreign assistance program?” Siddartha Mahanta sounds a pessimistic note: “the United States diplomatic corps might get a major boost in power and personnel. Realistically? They probably won’t.” He goes on to describe the political roadblocks facing the reforms, and how Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), who has advocated for cuts in the State Department budget and is set to become the chairperson of the House Foreign Services Committee, may prove to be uncooperative.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, NGOs, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »
State Department Releases QDDR
December 16th, 2010 by Evan
The State Department released its first Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) December 15 (full text here, executive summary here). The report, titled “Leading Through Civilian Power,” is divided into four sections: “Diplomacy for the 21st Century,” which addresses how the U.S. will adapt its diplomacy to face new threats and opportunities; “Transforming Development to Deliver Results,” which lays out efforts to reform USAID; “Preventing and Responding to Conflict and Crisis,” which explains how the U.S. plans to prevent conflicts before they occur; and “Working Smarter,” which describes how the State Department plans to improve its planning procurement and personnel procedures. Among other reforms, the QDDR empowers Chiefs of Mission to be the “CEOs” of interagency work at their posts, creates an Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights to replace the existing Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, and emphasizes the importance of engaging a broad range of non-state actors, from NGOs to religious groups to the private sector.
In her remarks at a recent townhall meeting on the QDDR, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the report as “a sweeping effort that asks a simple question: How can we do better? How can we adapt to a world of rising powers, changing global architecture, evolving threats, and new opportunities? How can we look ahead, prepare for, and help shape the world of tomorrow?” Moving forward, the QDDR will serve as a “blueprint for how we can make the State Department and USAID more nimble, more effective, and more accountable.” Also, Secretary Clinton advocated for the principles outlined in the QDDR in an article in the November/December issue of Foreign Affairs.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid | Comment »
Senate Releases FY2011 Budget Text
December 14th, 2010 by Jason
The Senate Appropriations Committee has released the text of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 Omnibus Appropriations Act late Tuesday. Under the $1.1 trillion spending bill, $53.5 billion would be spent on State, foreign operations, and related programs, $3.1 billion less than requested. Should the language of the bill remain unchanged, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) would receive $128.5 million, $23.5 million more than requested and $10.5 million more than FY 2010 levels, while bilateral economic assistance would be funded at $22.97 billion, $1.6 billion below the requested amount and $1.12 billion above the FY 2010 level . Egypt, Israel, the West Bank/Gaza, and Jordan would be funded at the level requested, while Lebanon would be funded at the level requested, “subject to conditions.” The House and the Senate have until Saturday to either agree on an omnibus bill or pass a continuing resolution.
Posted in Congress, Foreign Aid, Legislation, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Corruption Challenges in Yemen”
December 10th, 2010 by Jason
On Friday the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) joined with the Embassy of Yemen to present “Corruption Challenges in Yemen,” a presentation by Dr. Bilkis Abouosbaa, Vice-Chairperson of the Supreme National Authority for Combating Corruption (SNACC). A portion of the documentary film “Destructive Beast: Corruption in Yemen” was also shown.
(To read full notes, continue below the fold or click here for pdf.)
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Civil Society, DC Event Notes, Foreign Aid, NGOs, Reform, Women, Yemen | Comment »
Egypt: How U.S. Military Aid Hurts Human Rights
December 10th, 2010 by Evan
Writing at the Huffington Post, Joscelyn Jurich, New York University professor and journalist, criticizes the U.S. approach to Egypt: “The Obama administration has consistently spoken in favor of democracy in Egypt, but has done less and less about it.” According to Jurich, the White House has been remarkably soft on the Mubarak regime, at most expressing “disappointment” and in other cases failing to respond at all. Moreover, the Obama administration has maintained military funding to Egypt, disregarding how these funds strengthen Mubarak’s grip. Jurich concludes by calling for greater oversight of U.S. assistance to Egypt to ensure that the money is not used to fund human rights abuses.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Foreign Aid, Human Rights | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Opening Up: Aid Information, Transparency and U.S. Foreign Assistance Reform”
December 9th, 2010 by Evan
On Thursday, the Brookings Institution hosted a discussion on attempts to increase the level of transparency across U.S. foreign assistance programming. Karin Christiansen, Director of Publish What You Fund, presented her organization’s recent transparency assessment of 30 aid agencies. Ruth Levine, Director of Evaluation, Policy Analysis and Learning at USAID, addressed the U.S. government’s foreign assistance reform efforts. And Nancy Birdsall, President of the Center for Global Development, Daniel Kaufmann, Senior Fellow in the Brooking Institution’s Global Economy and Development program, and Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, the Liberian Minister of Finance, all delivered responses. The Brooking Institution’s Noam Unger moderated the event.
(To read full notes, continue below or click here for a pdf.)
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in DC Event Notes, Foreign Aid | Comment »
“Quiet Diplomacy Has Not Succeeded”
December 9th, 2010 by Jason
Writing at the Arab Reform Bulletin, POMED’s former executive director Andrew Albertson examines the Obama administration’s efforts towards promoting democracy in the Middle East. Albertson praises the administration for it’s “mulitlateral” approach and for “work[ing] with Congress to make the necessary investments in democracy assistance,” by increasing support for the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. However, the administration has also fallen short in several areas. The pursuit of human rights and reform through “disconnected bureaucratic pathways” has led to a “struggle to integrate serious, long-term thinking about development into interagency policy planning.” Also, the president’s rhetoric has “at times seemed disconnected from the bureaucratic machinery necessary to back up words with action.” Ultimately, the Obama administration needs to “demonstrate stronger linkages between its rhetoric on human rights and political reform on the one hand, and policy consequences on the other.”
Posted in Civil Society, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, Human Rights, Multilateralism, Reform, US foreign policy, US politics | Comment »
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Calls for Spending Cuts
December 8th, 2010 by Evan
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), the new chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee,
pledged to make significant cuts to the State Department and to U.S. foreign operations funding in a statement laying out her agenda Wednesday. The Cable’s
Josh Rogin reports that Ros-Lehtinen said “As Chairman of this Committee, I will work to restore fiscal discipline to foreign affairs, reform troubled programs and organizations, exercise vigorous oversight to identify waste, fraud, and abuse, and counter the threats posed to our nation by rogue states and violent extremists.” Rogin adds that while Ros-Lehtinen does not have direct control over spending,
Kay Granger (R-TX), the incoming chairwoman of the House Appropriations State and Foreign Operations subcommittee, does and likely shares the Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman’s views.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid | Comment »
Congressman Obey Unveils Spending Bill, Republicans Announce New Appropriations Committee Chair
December 8th, 2010 by Evan
The outgoing Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee
David Obey (D-WI) announced a new $1.25 trillion spending bill (full text
here, summary
here) that excludes all earmarks, freezes government salaries for civilian employees, and maintains funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on Wednesday. Funding for state, foreign operations, and related programs increased $2.2 billion to a total of $51 billion with most of new funding going to Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The draft also maintains funding for Jordan and Egypt at 2010 levels. The legislation is expected to the pass the House but may face opposition in the Senate. Late Tuesday, the House GOP Steering Committee announced that it has tapped
Hal Rogers (R-KY) to be the new Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. According to Politico, Rogers has
promised to reduce discretionary spending to 2008 levels. In contrast to Rogers’ rhetoric, the congressman has a history of using earmarks to fund local projects. In other Congressional news, House Republicans have
released the calendar for the upcoming year.
Posted in Congress, Foreign Aid | Comment »
Egypt: EMHRN Calls for Increased EU Criticism of Elections
December 6th, 2010 by Evan
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) issued a statement calling on the European Union (EU) to “take a strong position on the parliamentary elections in Egypt.” Thus far, the EU’s response has been limited to a statement from Parliament President Jerzy Buzek criticizing the “violent and tense climate during elections.” EMHRN executive director Marc Schade-Poulsen said that the EU must do more: “Egypt has disrespected its association agreement with the EU according to which respect of human rights and democratic principles is an essential element. Egypt also disrespected the EU Egypt Action Plan agreement to cooperate on strengthening the participation of Egyptians in political life including participation in elections. […] It is important that the EU breaks its silence and expresses strong disapproval of the way in which the Egyptian authorities handled the election processes. The credibility of the EU’s foreign policy is at stake.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Elections, Foreign Aid | Comment »
Egypt: U.S. Must Push Harder for Political Reform
December 3rd, 2010 by Evan
Ellen Bork, the Director of Democracy and Human Rights at the Foreign Policy Initiative, writes that the Obama administration, like those before it, has ignored Egypt’s democrats and bought the Egyptian argument that stability is more important than political reform. With the presidential transition on the horizon, Bork urges both the President and Congress to “should push harder for democratic reforms in their contacts with Egyptian leaders” and calls on the Senate to “only approve a new ambassador to Cairo who is committed to an energetic, principled American policy in support of a transition to democracy brought about by Egypt’s people.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Elections, Foreign Aid | Comment »
Iraq: “Violent Agreement” on U.S. Strategy Going Forward
December 3rd, 2010 by Jason
A new paper titled “Unfinished Business: An American Strategy for Iraq Moving Forward,” has been well received by Marc Lynch at Foreign Policy. “I’m impressed with the Unfinished Business report, and find that it reflects many of the conversations I’ve had with its authors and with various U.S. and Iraqi players over the last year. […] Now that the firm commitment to withdrawal established, it’s appropriate and healthy to be actively and intensely engaged in Iraqi politics.” Lynch also points to an op-ed that he and John Nagl wrote in the Christian Science Monitor yesterday, before either had read the report, that comes to similar conclusions about U.S. strategy moving forward: “Today, those who backed the 2007 ’surge’ should be keen to see its gains consolidated, while those who called for withdrawal should be keen to make sure that as it happens, disaster does not follow. And while Iraq certainly needs to step up its political game, the US must also muster the bipartisan political strength and will to help build a stable Iraq that can be a partner to the US.”
Posted in Foreign Aid, Iraq, Military, US foreign policy | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Unfinished Business: An American Strategy for Iraq Moving Forward”
December 2nd, 2010 by Jason
The Brookings Institution held an event on Thursday to mark the release of the analysis paper “Unfinished Business: An American Strategy for Iraq Moving Forward.” The event’s participants were all co-authors of the paper and included Kenneth M. Pollack, director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, J. Scott Carpenter, the Keston Family Fellow at the Washington Institute and director of Project Fikra, and Sean Kane, a program officer with the United States Institute of Peace’s Iraq Programs.
(To read full notes, continue below the fold or click here for pdf.)
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in DC Event Notes, Elections, Foreign Aid, Iraq, Kurds, Military, Political Parties, Reform, Sectarianism, US foreign policy | Comment »
Egypt: State Department Says Election’s Failed Egyptian People
December 2nd, 2010 by Evan
In response to questions about Egypt’s parliamentary elections, State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley emphasized that fraud and violence threaten the legitimacy of the outcome in the eyes of the Egyptian people: “The real issue here is the relationship between Egypt and its own people and we believe that the election fell short of the expectations that the Egyptian people have for what they want to see in terms of an open political process, a chance to play a more – or a significant role in the future of their country, a chance to participate more fully in a political process.” In a separate statement, Crowley once again called on the Egyptian government to “meet the desires of the Egyptian people.” Crowley, however, downplayed the possibility that the U.S. would use aid as leverage to motivate Egypt to reform.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Elections, Foreign Aid | Comment »
Egypt: Egypt’s Election a Critical Test for Obama’s Democracy Rhetoric
December 2nd, 2010 by Evan
In a new opinion piece, The Christian Science Monitor’s editorial board criticizes the Obama Administration for failing to make good on its rhetorical commitment to promoting democracy in Egypt. Instead, the White House has placed other short-term objectives ahead of encouraging long term stability through political reform. “If Obama wants repressed people to stand up for their freedom, he could do better at standing up for them,” the authors write.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Elections, Foreign Aid | Comment »
The Decline of USAID
November 19th, 2010 by Evan
Jerry Hyman, President of the Hills Program on Governance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, recently published a new article describing the decline of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) over the past four administrations. Hyman describes the fundamental tension between foreign policy and development policy and how USAID has lost much of its independence, especially since development was enshrined as a pillar of U.S. national security policy during the second Bush Administration.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Foreign Aid | Comment »
Egypt: U.S. “Has More to Gain” by Supporting Democracy
November 19th, 2010 by Anna
At World Politics Review, former Wall Street Journal foreign correspondent James Dorsey contends that it is in Washington’s long-term interests to promote democratic reform in Egypt, rather than “turn a blind eye to flagrant human-rights violations and measures that stymie democratic development.” He highlights the Egyptian regime’s “repression of the opposition, intimidation and control of the media, and electoral restrictions” all but ensure that the National Democratic Party (NDP) will remain in power. Dorsey calls fear that democracy promotion efforts would benefit Egypt’s Islamists “exaggerated,” adding that the Obama administration could shape the debate in Egypt prior to the parliamentary elections by publicly focusing on the matter. He concludes: “[a]ll in all, the United States has more to gain by nudging the Egyptian and Arab debate toward an embrace of democracy and human rights — and more to lose by maintaining a policy that so far has primarily identified Washington with repressive, corrupt regimes, significantly tarnishing its image.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Diplomacy, Egypt, Elections, Foreign Aid | Comment »
Hamid and Gause Debate Democracy in the Muslim World
November 19th, 2010 by Evan
Shadi Hamid, Director of Research at the Brookings Doha Center and Fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, and
Gregory Gause, Professor of Political Science at the University of Vermont, recently participated in video debate on democracy in the Muslim world. Over the course of the conversation, Hamid and Gause discuss whether democracy in the Middle East is in Washington’s interests, what Islamists would do if they came to power, and the durability of authoritarian rule across the Arab world. View the full discussion
here.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Foreign Aid, Islam and Democracy | Comment »
