2012 SOTU: Bingo Win, Development Defeat

Expectations for a global development focus in President Obama’s State of the Union address were low. Still, more than 130 policy wonks gathered at the Commissary watering hole and eatery in Logan Circle to play CGD State of the Union bingo and many were pleasantly surprised that they could mark off a number of development-related words on their bingo cards.As my colleague Connie Veillette predicted, President Obama touched on a number foreign policy issues including congratulatory words on Iraq, warnings on Iran and nuclear weapons, delicately balanced verbiage on China, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and a commitment to Arab Spring countries (although he never actually said “Arab Spring”, thwarting many dreams of a bingo win).  References to poverty, aid, energy, and women set ink daubers in motion as players eagerly marked these words – commonly used to highlight international development priorities.

In the address, these words were domestically-focused, but highlight common challenges globally and at home. Perhaps some of the most welcome words of the night were calls for comprehensive immigration reform, an issue many at CGD champion as a win for both the United States and developing countries around the world.In the end, a record 39 people achieved bingo victory as Obama’s remarks wove together this wide range of issues.  And once again our most enthusiastic State Department attendee, Stephan Thurman, displayed his bingo dominance by claiming the first win of the night.Despite the bingo victories, I’d stop short of calling the State of the Union a win for global development.  While the president made mention of trade, security, investment, technology, and migration, he stopped short of explaining how these policies affect developing countries and why that also matters to the United States’ own national security and prosperity.  While he stressed the need for greater efficiency within the U.S. government – highlighting his recent call to reorganize the 12 federal agencies that promote U.S. exports – he didn’t explain how his administration will execute this in a way that supports development at a time when traditional aid faces cuts (we have some suggestions).While we didn’t get our perfect game of bingo, it’s encouraging that Obama chose to frame many domestic problems within the context of foreign policy.  I’ll be watching to see how his rhetoric matches reality in a tough election year and hope the administration will not resign the responsibilities the United States has as a leader in global development.See the photo album from the event here.