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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity
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 Posts:August 19, 2009New MCC CEO Ready to Roll?By Sheila HerrlingThis post originally appeared on CGD’s MCA Monitor Blog and also appeared on the Huffington Post. Word has it that the Administration’s candidate for MCC CEO has cleared the arduous vetting process. That would certainly be good news for the MCC staff who have been waiting 7 months to find out who is going to lead the institution through the next set of reforms and key decisions necessary to help ensure that the promises of an innovative model actually deliver better results that other programs. While I’m sure the Administration would prefer to hold the formal nomination until it can be announced jointly with a USAID Administrator nominee, I hope they won’t. Ditto for the President of OPIC candidate who is apparently also ready (or very close to ready) to roll. As the disappointing process to find a USAID Administrator drags on, I hope the White House will see the wisdom of energizing each and every development agency it can – as soon as it can – by appointing their leads. Each agency need to get moving quickly on putting its own house in order before deliberations can be held on consolidation. And I trust that USAID employees would not read any unintended political signs into the fact that the MCC CEO or the President of OPIC was appointed before their Administrator. We have got to get development back on track, delivering their good to anxiously awaiting customers. Then we can start debating the order of the train cars. Please submit your comments for the original post here. Comment »August 7, 2009The Farmer Out of the Dell: Who’s Next in the USAID Courtship Ritual?By Sheila HerrlingAs others before me have reported, Paul Farmer, the longest-rumored contender for the USAID Administrator nomination, is out of the running. And so begins again a courtship ritual that, funny enough, is captured in the old children’s rhyme that bears his name. Not so funny is the fact that seven months into an administration that ran on a smart power platform promising to elevate development to equal footing with diplomacy and defense, there is still no appointee at the helm of the agency charged with executing U.S. development policy and foreign assistance. (Yeah, yeah, I know the Secretary of State is technically in charge since USAID is a sub-cabinet agency. But as I have said before, she has a full-time job on the diplomacy front and needs a powerful wingman 24/7 on the development front.) Read More… 20 Comments »July 30, 2009Who’d a Thunk It? Bipartisan Consensus on Foreign AidBy Sheila HerrlingThis is a joint posting with Sarah Jane Staats and also appeared on the Huffington Post
8 Comments »July 23, 2009Special Op-Ed From Senator Lugar: Strong Voice for Development NeededBy Sheila Herrling
[UPDATE 7/28/09: Today, Sens. Kerry, Lugar, Menendez, Corker, Risch, and Cardin introduced the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009, bill number S. 1524 available here: ]
14 Comments »July 13, 2009State Department Launches Inaugural Review of Diplomacy and DevelopmentBy Sheila Herrling
4 Comments »July 6, 2009Honduras: Walks Like a Coup, Quacks Like a Coup, But Not Officially Called a Coup?By Sheila HerrlingOn June 28, after months of tension over Honduran President Manuel Zelaya’s plan to lift presidential term limits, armed soldiers hauled him in his pajamas out of his home and put him on a plane to Costa Rica. Looks like a coup to me. Later that day the Honduran Congress voted to remove Zelaya and swear in Roberto Micheletti, head of the Congress, as the new civilian president. Even so, it still sounds like a coup to me. So, all the news stories call it a coup. President Obama called it a coup. The OAS called it a coup in their official statement suspending Honduras’ membership from the regional organization. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the situation has “evolved into a coup.” Read More… 1 Comment »April 30, 2009Two Tails Wagging, Where’s the Dog?By Sheila HerrlingAfter raising expectations both on the Obama campaign trail and during the transition period that development would really not just rhetorically be a priority and an equal partner with diplomacy and defense in our national security apparatus, two notable actions occurred this week, just under the 100 day mark. Read More… Comment »March 30, 2009Dear General Jones: Add the USAID Administrator to the National Security CouncilBy Sheila HerrlingLast week, I sent a policy memo to the White House recommending they amend Presidential Policy Directive 1 (PPD-1) which sets out the organization and membership of the National Security Council, to add the USAID Administrator. Why? Three main reasons: 1. It puts real action to the Obama campaign pledge and, most recently its new Afghanistan and Pakistan strategy, to elevate development in U.S. national security and foreign policy. 2. It is an actionable step to give development a distinct voice at the highest government decionmaking body. This doesn’t ensure that the development view will always win, but it does allow for it to be heard distinct from the diplomatic political views typically weighing most heavily on the Secretary of State. 3. It may help to recruit the calibre of USAID Administrator necessary to overhaul USAID and lead U.S. development policy inter-agency and globally. Expectations were set high for serious action on and elevation of the development agenda during the campaign. Having served on the foreign assistance agency review team during transition, I can personally attest to this. Now, reality often gets in the way of the best of intentions, and certainly the financial crisis, the immediacy of the budget(s) and the sheer chore of setting up a new administration have been distractions from the development agenda. But by making the USAID Administrator part of the NSC and executing the three following supporting actions (also covered in the policy memo to General Jones) the White House could put the agenda back on track : 1. Appoint a strong USAID Administrator ASAP. The agency needs a strong leader at the helm to work hand in hand with Secretary Clinton on development policy and to re-professionalize the organization. The past four administrations had their USAID Administrators in place by May at the latest; Reagan had Peter McPherson confirmed February 1st. 2. The NSC — not any individual government agency — should lead an interagency effort to craft a National Strategy for Global Development. 3. Signal to Congress its willingness to support their efforts to rewrite the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to reflect today’s needs. 1 Comment »February 27, 2009Obama FY10 Budget Charts Course to Doubling AidBy Sheila HerrlingYesterday, the Obama Administration released top-line numbers of its FY10 budget request. Of the whopping $3.6 trillion budget, $51.7 billion was allotted to the International Affairs Budget, an estimated 9.5% above the comparable amount for FY09. Note, however, that defining “comparable” is a bit tough this year because the Administration’s proposal brought all recurring spending (including that for Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan that has for years been funded through supplementals) into the base budget, stopping what had become a very bad practice. Our colleagues at the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign do a great job, as they do every year, of walking readers through a comparison. Comment »February 9, 2009A Foreign Assistance Act for the 21st CenturyBy Sheila HerrlingMany of you have asked why my Q&A on rewriting the Foreign Assistance Act was not a blog so you could offer commentary. Your wishes are my command — I would love to see your thoughts. Comment »October 22, 2008Phoenix Rising: A Stunning Week of Calls to Elevate Development and Modernize Foreign AssistanceBy Sheila HerrlingFrom the ashes of the global economic crisis, rose a stunning number of calls this week to avoid U.S. protectionism and isolationism through sustained engagement in international development initiatives and efforts to modernize foreign assistance. Comment »October 14, 2008Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) Goes Live: Join the Cause!By Sheila HerrlingThe Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) just launched its new website. As many of you know, CGD’s Steve Radelet is co-chair of this initiative. The new site provides information on how foreign assistance is in our national interest, why it is vital to modernize the current system, and how you can get involved in the effort. Comment »June 16, 2008Operation Smart Power: The Non-Military Surge We NeedBy Sheila HerrlingThe day after the launch of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network’s New Day, New Way Proposal, Representatives Betty McCollum (D-MN), Christopher Shays (R-CT), John Tierney (D-MA) and Frank Wolf (R-VA) introduced a bipartisan resolution to elevate global development and foreign assistance in our national interest. Continuing to build on the surge of momentum for modernizing U.S. foreign assistance, ten cosponsors of the resolution call on their colleagues to recognize that: 1 Comment »April 28, 2008Congressional Hearing Highlights Growing Consensus for Retooling U.S. Foreign AssistanceBy Sheila HerrlingRep. Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, opened the first of a series of hearings on foreign assistance reform with a bold statement last Wednesday calling for major overhaul of the system. Says Berman:
1 Comment »February 4, 2008Henrietta Fore Announces Plan to Overhaul U.S. Foreign AssistanceBy Sheila HerrlingOn Friday, USAID Administrator and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance Henrietta Fore unveiled to a standing-room-only CGD audience her much-awaited strategy for revitalizing our outdated foreign assistance apparatus in a speech titled Foreign Assistance: An Agenda for Reform. Four major actions drive her modernization plan:
2 Comments »January 18, 2008Pentagon Chief Robert Gates Calls for More Resources, New Approach to DevelopmentBy Sheila Herrling*This is a joint post with Steve Radelet
And, how specifically do we elevate global development policy in the national interest? Says Gates:
Comment »December 12, 2007Beyond the HELP CommissionBy Sheila Herrling*This is a joint post with Sarah Jane Hise
Comment »May 8, 2007Administration Moves Quickly to Fill Behind TobiasBy Sheila HerrlingSecretary of State Condoleezza Rice appointed Undersecretary of Management Henrietta Holsman Fore as acting Director of Foreign Assistance. The White House announced that the President has designated Ms. Fore acting USAID Administrator and his intent to nominate her for that post. Comment »April 27, 2007Tobias Resigns: What Next for Foreign Aid Reform?By Sheila HerrlingToday at 4:00 p.m., Randall Tobias officially resigned from the position of Director of Foreign Aid and Administrator of USAID for “personal reasons.” In the wake of this news folks are left wondering why he resigned and what happens to the foreign aid reform agenda he just launched. There appear to be two camps emerging on the “why”. Given the fact that very close aides to Tobias say they were shocked, — including Deputy USAID Administrator Jim Kunder who, in his email to staff says, “today I received shocking news…” — one camp believes it is truly very personal. Another camp notes that it was fairly common knowledge that Tobias did not plan on finishing out his term but that his decision to resign now was prompted by his fury over Congressman Tom Lantos’ infamous “We Are Not A Potted Plant” berating at a recent House International Affairs Committee hearing. 7 Comments »March 26, 2007U.S. Foreign Aid Reform: Will The Congress Work for a Smart Power Budget?By Sheila HerrlingMany readers of our piece last week on U.S. foreign aid reform, Billions for War, Pennies for the Poor: Moving the President’s FY2008 Budget from Hard Power to Smart Power, have asked for the state of play on Congressional mark-ups of the International Affairs budget itself. With a nod to the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign for their terrific up to date coverage, here’s where we’re at: Comment » |
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Amidst of a month of partisan battles on Capitol Hill over a Supreme Court nominee, healthcare and financial regulation, a new bill was introduced this week that rose above party lines: the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009 (
CGD was delighted to be asked by Senator Richard Lugar to post his op-ed on the urgent need to elevate global development and strengthen U.S. foreign assistance programs. Together with Senators Kerry, Menendez and Corker, Lugar plans to introduce 
Yesterday in an 
