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Dear Board of Directors,

Greetings from Cleveland! It's been a non-stop few days, including our standing-room-only event yesterday with our partner IRI that featured Governor John Kasich and Speaker Paul Ryan alongside foreign policy heavyweights Senators Ernst, Perdue, and Cotton, and Rep. Roskam.

I wanted to share a brief snapshot of the 2016 GOP Party Platform that was just ratified earlier this week. While not always widely read, negative language in Party platforms can be problematic as up-and-coming candidates often turn to these blueprints for direction.

So take a look at our five key takeaways. It's helpful - particularly this year - when both parties reject isolationism and embrace a vision for America's global leadership, even though they say it differently.

Liz
Liz Schrayer, USGLC

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IMPACT 2016 UPDATE - FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY
Analysis of 2016 Republican Party Platform
July 20, 2016

This week, the Republican Convention ratified their party's 2016 Platform in Cleveland. Before the convention, the presumptive GOP nominee, Donald Trump, had indicated his campaign's intention that the 2016 platform track closely to the 2012 Platform in hopes of minimizing issues within the Party base. In recent days, pundits have showcased areas where the Platform diverges from the nominee's social agenda, as well as the 2012 platform such as trade, where the platform now calls for "better negotiated trade agreements that put America first."

The foreign policy plank opens with an emphasis on strengthening America's military as vital for our "natural position as leader of the free world." The plank calls for a policy of "peace through strength," embracing the Party's "tradition of world leadership established by President Eisenhower and followed by every Republican president since." Diplomacy and development are largely covered in a section titled "America's Generosity: International Assistance that Makes a Difference."

Five key foreign policy takeaways from the Platform:

1. Reinforces Foreign Assistance as a Critical Tool to Advancing America's Security, Economy
The Platform states "Foreign aid must serve America's interests first," adding it "is a critical tool for advancing America's security and economic interests by preventing conflict and building stability, building and opening markets for private investment, and responding to suffering and need with compassion that is at the heart of our country's values." It notes that a "strong commitment to international development and diplomacy" was central to President Reagan's vision of peace through strength, and "can sometimes serve as an alternative means of keeping the peace, far less costly both in dollars and in human lives than military engagement."

2. Encourages Aid as Catalyst for Private Sector Investment
The Platform embraces political freedom and economic growth as the "only sustainable solution to poverty." It praises recent efforts to use foreign assistance as a "catalyst for private sector investment to combat corruption, strengthen the rule of law, and open new markets for American goods and services in a competitive global economy." The document underscores the Millennium Challenge Corporation as a "new model of foreign assistance that helps ensure taxpayer dollars are effective, results-driven, transparent, and accountable" and calls for the United States to "embrace this model throughout our foreign assistance programs."

3. Pledges to Partner with Africa
Recognizing "Africa's extraordinary potential," the Platform pledges to "be the best partner of all African nations in their pursuit of economic freedom and human rights." The platform praises George W. Bush's global health initiatives like PEPFAR and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which "continue to save millions of lives." The document also highlights the importance of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), while reinforcing America's commitment to cooperate with Africa against terrorism.

4. Commits to Advancing Human Rights & Renewing Alliances
The Platform commits to advancing human rights around the world, which it says is "not just consistent with American values. It advances important security and economic interests as well." It highlights America's continuing participation in the international campaign against human trafficking and promotes the defense of religious freedom around the world. The Platform also calls for renewing America's alliances, saying NATO's "continued effectiveness is vital" while demanding that fellow NATO allies meet their commitments to invest in their own militaries.

5. Calls for Reforming International Organizations
The platform acknowledges that international organizations can "serve the cause of peace and prosperity," but says "our country must always reserve the right to go its own way." It urges that continued participation in the UN be contingent upon reforms for greater transparency and a stronger commitment to human rights