Modernizing U.S. Foreign Assistance

CGD has an active program of research and analysis on aid effectiveness and recognizes that strong foreign assistance programs are vital to U.S. national interests. They enhance our security, expand global economic opportunities and promote American values. The past 40 years of foreign assistance have shown successes, but they have also shown that our foreign assistance programs are out of date and badly in need of overhaul to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The mission, mandate and organizational structure of our outdated foreign assistance apparatus must be rebuilt and adequately funded to meet today's foreign policy challenges, particularly our institutions and policies focusing on global development and poverty reduction.

This Initiative aims to:

• Create a one-stop-shop for analysis and advocacy efforts on U.S. foreign assistance reform.
• Provide CGD expert opinion on how to reform the mission, mandate and organizational structure of U.S. foreign assistance.
• Elevate global development and U.S. foreign assistance as a critical national interest priority.
• Track Presidential candidates’ statements on global development and U.S. foreign assistance in Election ’08

The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network Proposal

New Day, New Way: U.S. Foreign Assistance for the 21st Century calls on the next American president, Congress, policymakers and the American people to overhaul how the U.S. helps poor people in developing countries. Among the recommended steps: a new national foreign assistance strategy and a new Foreign Assistance Act to replace the outdated framework that President Kennedy signed nearly 50 years ago. CGD senior fellow Steve Radelet is a co-chair of the authoring group, the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network.

Amidst the myriad of proposals, commissions, reports, and debates around the topic of how to best design and achieve reform, the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network has coalesced to build a solid foundation for a grand bargain amongst the executive branch, legislative branch, and the private stakeholder sector to revitalize and build strong civilian capacity for foreign assistance. 

CGD Launches YouTube Video on Foreign Assistance Reform

CGD has launched a video to help convey why the next president needs to give U.S. foreign assistance policy something akin to an extreme makeover. "Bring U.S. Foreign Assistance into the 21st Century" has since been watched on YouTube by nearly 10,000 people and is featured on the Global Development Matters site.

The new one-minute video opens with scenes typical of early 1960's America and includes the original audio recording of President John F. Kennedy's remarks upon signing the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. The Foreign Assistance Act, Kennedy promises, “will provide military assistance to countries which are on the rim of the communist world and under direct attack.” The video flashes through images showing nearly 50 years of change in technology, international relations, and security threats. It asks: “How can foreign assistance policy written in 1961 address the issues of today?” A lot has changed since then. And just as the military constantly upgrades and refines its technology and tactics to better protect the U.S. and our interests, we need a new foreign assistance policy that helps us do more and better to address today’s challenges -- poverty, infectious disease, instability and global warming. Because what happens in other parts of the world now directly affects our security, our jobs, our health, and our way of life. We need a modern Foreign Assistance Act to help improve our image in the rest of the world, expand economic opportunities, and make us safer and more prosperous at home.

What’s New in U.S. Foreign Assistance Reform?

• National Public Radio features article "Candidates Share Interest in Boosting Foreign Aid" quoting CGD's Steve Radelet and Gayle Smith of the Center for American Progress online and on air (August 7, 2008).
• The Senate Foreign Relations Committee heald a hearing on "Defining the Military's Role Towards Foreign Policy" (July 31, 2008).
• The Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs held a hearing on "A Reliance on Smart Power - Reforming the Foreign Assistance Bureaucracy" (July 31, 2008).
• The House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on "Foreign Assistance Reform: Rebuilding U.S. Civilian Development and Diplomatic Capacity in the 21st Century" featuring two former USAID Administrators: Peter McPherson and J. Brian Atwood (June 25, 2008). 

This initiative is funded in part by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.