Strong and effective U.S. foreign assistance programs are a crucial component of improved rich-world policies toward the developing world. They are also vital to U.S. national interests, enhancing global security, expanding economic opportunities and promoting American values. The past 40 years of U.S. foreign assistance have shown important successes. But the U.S. foreign assistance apparatus is badly out-of-date and inadequate to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The mission, mandate and organizational structure must be rebuilt and adequately funded.
Other CGD Work on U.S. Foreign Aid Reform:
CGD has been an active participant in a broad-based effort to elevate development and strengthen U.S. assistance, including through the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN). As part of this ongoing effort, the Center's Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance program aims to:
- Create a one-stop-shop for information, dialogue and analysis on U.S. foreign assistance innovations and reform.
- Provide CGD expert opinion on how to reform the mission, mandate and organizational structure of U.S. foreign assistance.
- Contribute to the ongoing effort to elevate global development and U.S. foreign assistance as a critical national interest priority.
This initiative is funded in part by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
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In a major policy speech hosted by CGD, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton declared international development a central pillar of U.S. foreign policy, together with diplomacy and defense. She hailed Raj Shah, recently confirmed as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and said she intends to rebuild USAID into, “the premier development agency in the world.”
In her speech, Clinton said that, especially in tough economic times, the American people have the right to ask why the United States spends tax dollars to help developing countries. Development overseas is critical to U.S. security and prosperity, she said, and development professionals must do a better job of measuring and communicating the impacts of their work.
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Senior fellow Todd Moss considers the future of foreign aid in light of Dambiso Moyo’s book, Dead Aid, which argues that Western aid to Africa has brought more harm than help. The relevant question today, he argues, is not whether aid is good or bad, but rather how aid can be made to work better for both donors and the people of Africa.
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Senior fellow Steve Radelet testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health about the challenges and opportunities to reform U.S. foreign assistance to Africa.
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CGD visiting fellow Carol Lancaster testifies in frot of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Development on April 1, 2009.
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USAID IN THE 21ST CENTURY HEARING before the COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Time: 9:30 A.M.
Place: 419 Dirksen Senate Building
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Senior fellow Steve Radelet testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Development, Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs, and International Environmental Protection.
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Senior policy analyst Sheila Herrling calls on the National Security Officer to elevate global development and enhance the impact of U.S. foreign assistance. One step: add the USAID Administrator to the National Security Council
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In this paper, part of the Innovations in Aid series, Jean-Michel Severino and Olivier Ray describe shifts in the objectives of overseas development assistance (ODA) over time and conclude that it is time to put the concept itself to bed—in favor of what they propose should be called “Global Policy Finance.”
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In a presentation delivered at NYU's Aid Watch Conference, CGD president Nancy Birdsall, in a session on accountabilty, spoke about Cash on Delivery Aid, a way for donors to transfer money that could make aid-dependent governments accountable for outcomes to their citizens -- instead of for inputs to their donors.
View the Slides
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Director of the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, editor-at-large at U.S. News & World Report, and a senior political analyst for CNN, David Gergen joined CGD president Nancy Birdsall, and CGD senior fellows who authored essays in our recent book, The White House and the World: A Global Development Agenda for the Next U.S. President, for a lively discussion of the prospects for improved U.S. development policy under President Barack Obama.
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The recent creation of AFRICOM, a U.S. military command for Africa, is but one manifestation of the Pentagon's growing role in development. One-in-five dollars that the U.S. spends on development assistance is now handled by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Pentagon share of U.S. development spending has increased three-fold in the past five years, to some $5.5 billion annually. In a new CGD working paper, research fellow Stewart Patrick and program associate Kaysie Brown find that while the vast bulk of Pentagon development aid is for Iraq and Afghanistan, the department is also increasingly involved in new initiatives that civilian agencies could undertake. They warn that DoD's growing role in foreign assistance could undermine a broader U.S. approach to development support, and they offer specific recommendations for restoring a more appropriate balance.
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In this paper, part of the Innovations in Aid series, Jean-Michel Severino and Olivier Ray describe shifts in the objectives of overseas development assistance (ODA) over time and conclude that it is time to put the concept itself to bed—in favor of what they propose should be called “Global Policy Finance.”
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Director of the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, editor-at-large at U.S. News & World Report, and a senior political analyst for CNN, David Gergen joined CGD president Nancy Birdsall, and CGD senior fellows who authored essays in our recent book, The White House and the World: A Global Development Agenda for the Next U.S. President, for a lively discussion of the prospects for improved U.S. development policy under President Barack Obama.
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Controversies about aid effectiveness go back decades. This new working paper by CGD senior fellow Steven Radelet provides an introduction and overview of the basic concepts, data and key debates about foreign aid. It explores the range of views on the relationship between foreign aid and economic growth and discusses the reform of foreign aid, including selectivity, country ownership, the participatory approach, harmonization and coordination, and results-based management.Learn more
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Development refers to improvements in the conditions of people’s lives, such as health, education, and income. It occurs at different rates in different countries. The U.S. underwent its own version of development since the time it became an independent nation in 1776.
Learn more about Rich World, Poor World: A Guide to Global Development
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A Report of the Commission for Weak States and US National Security
Terrorists training at bases in Afghanistan and Somalia. Transnational crime networks putting down roots in Myanmar/Burma and Central Asia. Poverty, disease, and humanitarian emergencies overwhelming governments in Haiti and Central Africa. A common thread runs through these disparate crises that form the fundamental foreign policy and security challenges of our time. These crises originate in, spread to, and disproportionately affect developing countries where governments lack the capacity, and sometimes the will, to respond.
These weak and failed states matter to American security, American values, and the prospects for global economic growth upon which the American economy depends.
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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.
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U.S. "development assistance" refers to the transfer of resources from the United States to developing countries and to some strategic allies. It is delivered in the form of money (via loans or grants), contributions of goods (such as food aid), and technical assistance.
Learn more about Rich World, Poor World: A Guide to Global Development
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In this study, Steven Radelet examines the MCA's potential promise and possible pitfalls. He offers a rigorous analysis of the MCA’s central challenge: making foreign aid more effective in supporting economic growth and poverty reduction in the poor countries. He systematically explores what makes the MCA different and pinpoints the critical issues that will determine its success or failure.
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In a presentation delivered at NYU's Aid Watch Conference, CGD president Nancy Birdsall, in a session on accountabilty, spoke about Cash on Delivery Aid, a way for donors to transfer money that could make aid-dependent governments accountable for outcomes to their citizens -- instead of for inputs to their donors.
View the Slides
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Nancy Birdsall, President An internationally recognized expert on the impact of rich-country policies on poor people in developing countries, Nancy Birdsall is the author, co-author, or editor of more than a dozen books and over 100 articles in scholarly journals and monographs, published in English and Spanish. Her most recent book is Cash on Delivery: A New Approach to Foreign Aid.
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Sarah Jane Staats, Director of Policy Outreach Sarah Jane Staats is responsible for engaging the development policy community - especially senior staff in the U.S. Congress, the administration, and policy experts in leading development advocacy NGOs - in the Center's research and other programs. This week, on the Global Prosperity Wonkcast, she looks at President Obama's first budget request and what it might mean for U.S. support to global development.
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Dambisa Moyo's (Serious) Challenge to the Development Business
- Apr 21, 2009
Senior fellow Todd Moss considers the future of foreign aid in light of Dambiso Moyo’s book, Dead Aid, which argues that Western aid to Africa has brought more harm than help. The relevant question today, he argues, is not whether aid is good or bad, but rather how aid can be made to work better for both donors and the people of Africa.
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The End of ODA: Death and Rebirth of a Global Public Policy - Working Paper 167
- Mar 25, 2009
In this paper, part of the Innovations in Aid series, Jean-Michel Severino and Olivier Ray describe shifts in the objectives of overseas development assistance (ODA) over time and conclude that it is time to put the concept itself to bed—in favor of what they propose should be called “Global Policy Finance.”
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What's Behind the Recent Declines in U.S. Foreign Assistance?
- Dec 8, 2008
Total U.S. development assistance has fallen 22 percent since 2005 from $27.9 billion to $21.8 billion in 2007. In real terms, this was the smallest amount since 2002, excluding assistance to Iraq, Afghanistan, and HIV/AIDS programs. Senior fellow Steve Radelet and his coauthors examine the decline, and ask whether President Bush's pledge to double assistance to Africa is likely to be realized or not.
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U.S. Foreign Assistance for the Twenty-first Century (White House and the World Policy Brief)
- Aug 22, 2008
Meeting today’s foreign policy challenges requires a new vision of American global leadership based on the strength of our core values, ideas, and ingenuity. It calls for an integrated foreign policy that promotes our ideals, enhances our security, helps create economic and political opportunities for people around the world, and restores America’s image abroad. We cannot rely exclusively or even primarily on defense and security to meet these goals. CGD senior policy analyst Sheila Herrling and senior fellow Steve Radelet argue instead that we must make greater use of all the tools of statecraft, including diplomacy, trade, investment, intelligence, and a strong and effective foreign assistance strategy.
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New Day, New Way: U.S. Foreign Assistance for the 21st Century
- Jun 10, 2008
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.
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Congressional Hearing: USAID in the 21st Century
- Apr 1, 2009
USAID IN THE 21ST CENTURY HEARING before the COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Time: 9:30 A.M.
Place: 419 Dirksen Senate Building
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New Day, New Way: U.S. Foreign Assistance for the 21st Century
- Jun 10, 2008
U.S. engagement with the world has been affected by new foreign policy, national security, and economic challenges. These global challenges have stretched the bounds of both civilian and military involvement in development. The current system of foreign assistance has proven to be inflexible and outdated, unable to meet the needs for international investment. This investment, however, must be a lynchpin of U.S. national security in the 21st century – one of the three integral parts of diplomacy, defense, and development. A growing contingent of policy experts has agreed that U.S. foreign assistance must change in order to be more effective, responsive, and efficient.
The "New Day, New Way: U.S. Foreign Assistance for the 21st Century" report is the first step towards this mobilization. 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.
This group of experts will outline the main principles and how they plan to help move this agenda forward. Join us with your pressing questions about how this report could lead to an integrated foreign policy which restores the luster and reputation of the U.S. in the world.
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Strengthening U.S. Foreign Assistance: Proposals for a More Effective Strategy
- Mar 3, 2008
The SAIS International Development Program and the SAIS Center for International Business and Public Policy will host a discussion by two leading critics of the HELP Commission Report on U.S. foreign assistance that was submitted to the President and Congress in December 2007. Leo Hindery, Vice Chairman of the Commission, has co-authored with Jeff Sachs and Gayle Smith, an "alternative" view to the Commission's final report entitled "Revamping Foreign Assistance;" Nancy Birdsall, President of the Center for Global Development (and a distinguished SAIS alumnus), has been an outspoken advocate for a new Cabinet-level "Department for International Sustainable Development." Roger Leeds, SAIS Professor and Director of the School's Center for International Business and Public Policy, will moderate the discussion by these two leading proponents of a more assertive U.S. development assistance program than recommended in the HELP Commission Report.
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U.S. Foreign Assistance in Our National Interest
- Feb 1, 2008
In her first major speech since being confirmed by Congress, USAID Administrator and Director of Foreign Assistance Henrietta Holsman Fore will deliver a keynote speech on the importance of elevating global development and reforming U.S. foreign assistance to meet our foreign policy and national interest priorities. She will review progress made to date in modernizing our foreign assistance policies and practices as well as roll out her ambitious reform agenda for the coming year. Following her remarks, a panel of legislative, foreign policy, and foreign assistance experts will discuss the challenges, opportunities and political realities of modernizing the fragmented U.S. assistance apparatus for the tasks of the 21st century.
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Foreign Aid: Diplomacy, Development, Domestic Politics
- Dec 5, 2006
Why do governments give foreign aid? How have those purposes changed over the past half century? Why do they differ from donor government to donor government? What difference do donor intentions make to the size and impact of foreign aid? Carol Lancaster's new book on foreign aid explores these important questions. Join us for a lively presentation and discussion.
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Reorganizing U.S. Development Assistance:
For Better or Worse? A Debate
- Mar 17, 2006
CGD Senior Fellow Steve Radelet moderated a debate between Andrew Natsios, until recently Administrator of USAID in the Bush Administration, and Carol Lancaster, former Deputy Administrator of USAID in the Clinton Administration, about the recently announced reorganization of U.S. foreign aid.
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Foreign Assistance for Foreign Policy: An Overarching Strategy
- Mar 30, 2004
The past two years have seen the creation of two major foreign assistance programs, the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) and the Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS, as well as a proliferation of small Presidential aid initiatives. But does the U.S. have an overarching strategy that guides these initiatives or defines the relationship between them? What does the creation of the MCA mean for U.S. foreign assistance? What is the appropriate role for aid in promoting national security interests? Does the U.S. have the foreign assistance tools and resources it needs to meet its foreign policy goals? How can other foreign policy areas be better coordinated with foreign assistance to support global economic development objectives?
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