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The Weekly GAB Friday, July 13, 2018
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
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Who's in the News

THE HILL
Africa Has Key Role to Play in a Prosperous Global Future

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Ray Washburne, President and CEO, Overseas Private Investment
Corporation

This month, when I make my first official trip to Africa as the
president and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation
(OPIC), I will unveil a new OPIC initiative that will lead to a more
prosperous continent that is more closely connected to the rest of the
world. Despite all of the progress on the continent, too many barriers
to goods and services remain. OPIC's new "Connect Africa"
initiative aims to further integrate Sub-Saharan Africa into the
global trade market by focusing investment on transportation
infrastructure like roads, ports and airports; information and
communications technology; and value chains to help ensure more
locally produced products can reach global markets.

ROLL CALL
An Open Health Diplomacy Hand Works Better Than a Fist

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Tom Daschle and Bill Frist, Former Senate Majority Leaders

Over the past 15 years, PEPFAR has provided life-saving medications to
more than 14 million men, women and children; helped ensure that 2.2
million babies of HIV-positive mothers were born virus-free; and
drastically reduced deaths from HIV/AIDS. The program has also helped
lower the global price of life-saving antiretroviral drugs, and serves
as a model of an efficient and transparent aid program. We are a
compassionate nation that stood up - and continues to stand up
- for the lives of millions overseas. PEPFAR's successes
show that now is not the time for the United States to step back from
global health leadership. Rather, it is time to renew our commitment.

THE WASHINGTON POST

The Rohingya Are Victims of Ethnic Cleansing. The World Has Failed
Them

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António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations

Nothing could have prepared me for the bone-chilling accounts I heard
last week in Bangladesh from Rohingya refugees who had fled widespread
killings and violence in Rakhine state, Myanmar. These victims of what
has been rightly called ethnic cleansing are suffering an anguish that
can only stir a visitor's heartbreak and anger. Bangladesh is a
developing country with resources stretched to the limits. Yet, while
larger and wealthier countries around the world are closing doors to
outsiders, the government and people of Bangladesh have opened their
borders and hearts to the Rohingya. The compassion and generosity of
the Bangladeshi people show the best of humanity and have saved many
thousands of lives. But the response to this crisis must be a global
one.

Development & Diplomacy

BROOKINGS
How the BUILD Act Advances Development

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George Ingram, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institute

The Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development Act
(BUILD Act)-which aims to "facilitate the participation of
private sector capital and skills in the economic development of
countries with low- or lower-middle-income economies"-has
made its way through the House and Senate authorizing committees. The
House Foreign Affairs Committee strengthened the development
components of the legislation and then the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee further advanced the development mandate. A review of the
legislation casts no doubt that the proposed International Development
Finance Corporation (IDFC), successor to the Overseas Private
Investment Corporation (OPIC), is first and foremost a development
agency.

DEVEX

'Play the Long Game:' US Must Continue Aid in Central America,
Analysts Say |

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Teresa Welsh

Marcela Escobari, who served as assistant administrator of the U.S.
Agency for International Development's Bureau for Latin America
and the Caribbean in the last year of the Obama administration, said
if the new administration slashes the budgets it could jeopardize any
progress U.S. investments have already made. "You have to play
the long game. It's fine to add money, but when the commitment
is volatile and your funding goes up and down constantly, you can end
up creating more harm than good," Escobari said.

CNN
What Trump and African Leaders Need to Know About Food Security

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Tewodaj Mogues, Senior Research Fellow at the International Food
Policy Research Institute

The Global Food Security Act, an Obama-era piece of legislation that
marshals foreign aid to speed up agricultural growth and reduce hunger
in poor countries, will expire this year if it is not renewed... This
continued uncertainty about US foreign support to food-insecure
regions like Africa is clearly not welcome. Yet, it presents an
opportunity for both Africans and the development sector. Research and
development (R&D) in agriculture can be the key that unlocks Africa's
door to the Green Revolution, a revolution that fueled Asia's growth
in the 1960s and 1970s...It's not enough to simply keep reciting what
"the right thing" is, however. Instead, US development policy advisors
first need to understand, then creatively help poor countries work
through and around the political incentives that may stand in the way
of good agricultural policies and investments in Africa.

THE WASHINGTON POST

If We Really Want to Eradicate Diseases Such as Ebola, We Need a New
Strategy |

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Heidi Morefield

A recent Ebola outbreak in western Congo is under control - a
feat global health leaders have attributed in large part to the
apparent success of the experimental Ebola vaccine and the public
health campaign that enabled its distribution in a country with few
paved roads and an unreliable power supply. The urgency of the
outbreak spurred investment by larger donors, including the Gates
Foundation, in products such as high-tech coolers that could maintain
the "cold chain" - a refrigerated supply chain
necessary to prevent spoilage before vaccines can be administered to
patients... In fact, the turn toward high-tech solutions for
distribution of vaccines has overshadowed the more pressing issue: the
need to solve the underlying infrastructure problems that make their
use necessary.

THE BIG THINK

America's Greatest Foreign Policy Successes Are From Diplomacy,
Not War |

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Charles Koch Foundation

While it's had its share of misses, American foreign policy has
also produced some concrete successes in the years since World War 2
and it's possible to be hopeful. Outmaneuvering and outlasting the
Soviet Union, American diplomacy has kept the mainland in relative
peace...What have been some of the most important accomplishments of
recent U.S. diplomats? Here are the top 5: 1) The Marshall Plan:
Rebuilding the post-war world. 2) The Non-Proliferation Treaty. 3) The
opening to China. 4) The reunification of Germany. 5) The Dayton
Accords.

Politics & Foreign Policy

CNN
Trump Wants to End Africa's Vicious and Violent' Conflicts |

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Bukola Adebayo

President Donald Trump has vowed to bring an end to "vicious and
violent" conflicts in Africa. At a press briefing on the sidelines of
a NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday, Trump said his administration
was committed to ensuring peace in the world, and especially in
Africa. "Africa right now has got problems that few people will even
understand," Trump told a room full of journalists following a
question about US efforts in North Africa. "If you saw some of the
things that I see through intelligence what is going on in Africa, it
is so sad, it is so vicious and violent, and we want peace, we want
peace for Africa," Trump added. Trump said the US was reinforcing its
military because "through strength you get peace."

POLITICO
Clinton, Bush Defend U.S. Role Abroad as Trump Rattles NATO |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=fygORDZaOdMLxoIxpwYJaA

Matthew Nussbaum

Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, speaking at the
Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock on Thursday, stressed the
importance of American aid around the world. "One of the lessons
of 9/11 is the human condition elsewhere matters to the security of
our country," Bush said at the event..."And, therefore,
the idea of helping others alleviate disease and poverty and hunger is
in our national interest. Obviously the United States can't
solve every problem, but we can set priorities." He spoke
specifically about his administration's PEPFAR program aimed at
battling AIDS in Africa.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Trump's Claim That NATO Will Boost Defense Spending Disputed |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=wTv8sV2_cHja4_i4vUxHZw

Jonathan Lemire and Jill Covin

In a chaotic 28 hours at NATO, President Donald Trump disparaged
longtime allies, cast doubt on his commitment to the mutual-defense
organization and sent the 29-member pact into frenzied emergency
session. Then, in a head-snapping pivot at the end, on Thursday he
declared the alliance a "fine-tuned machine" that had
acceded to his demands to speed up increases in military spending.
Trump claimed member nations had agreed to significantly boost their
defense budgets and reaffirmed...that the U.S. remains faithful to the
accord. There were no immediate specifics on what Trump said he had
achieved, and French President Emmanuel Macron quickly disputed
Trump's claim that NATO allies had agreed to boost defense
spending beyond their existing goal of 2 percent of gross domestic
product.

CNN

Corker: Trump Rhetoric 'Diminishing' American Leadership Around the
World |

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Manu Raju and Elizabeth Landers

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker bluntly warned Wednesday
that US influence around the world is "diminishing" and said that
President Donald Trump's comments about NATO have been "damaging" to
American leadership in an apparent effort to "tear apart" a critical
alliance. Corker has grown increasingly unnerved about Trump's sharp
attacks against NATO, raising alarms that the President's rhetoric and
actions have "destabilized" a key part of the post-World War II order.
"I believe that America's leadership around the world has made the
world safer for Americans and has made the world a better place," said
Corker, a second-term Tennessee Republican. "And when I see that
leadership diminishing, and us trying to break apart alliances that we
created, it troubles me."

THE WASHINGTON POST

Pompeo Makes Unannounced Trip to Kabul, Says Trump's Afghan
Strategy Is 'Working' |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Qe6CKz3dw3OfR5KVD8OnnA

Pamela Constable and John Hudson

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, making an unannounced stop in the
Afghan capital Monday, said his brief visit showed him that the Trump
administration's strategy of maintaining an active U.S. military
role, while setting conditions rather than timelines for success in
the war against Taliban insurgents, "is indeed working."
Pompeo, who spoke at a news conference with Afghan President Ashraf
Ghani, reiterated that Washington will participate in a peace process
initiated by Ghani last month, when he announced a unilateral
cease-fire. The truce was observed peacefully by the Taliban for three
days, sparking nationwide hopes for progress in settling the 17-year
war.

CNN
Diplomatic Disconnect With North Korea Spells Trouble for Trump |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=C2qc4_a9RKGU4ZMGKBJf7Q

Clare Foran and Elise Labott

The diplomatic disconnect makes it clear that the nations are not on
the same page. It calls into question the US effort to extract
concessions from Pyongyang and underscores a vast difference in the
way the two sides view the agreement between Trump and North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore last month. "I think there is a
fundamental misunderstanding," said CNN global affairs analyst Joseph
Yun, a former top US diplomat on North Korea policy. "The US still
believes North Korea will denuclearize substantially before we give
them any major rewards, while North Korea believes that the two need
to move together jointly, and both make concessions."

THE WASHINGTON POST
China Tells the U.S. to Stop Hurting Itself in the Trade War |

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Danielle Paquette and Emily Rauhala

Another day, another round of tariffs. After President Trump unveiled
a new list of Chinese goods the United States plans to slap with
import duties - this time worth a staggering $200 billion
- Beijing punched back with a somberly worded warning.
"The behavior of the U.S. is hurting China, hurting the world,
and hurting itself," the Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday in
a statement. The Chinese government went on to paint itself a defender
of free trade, urging the international community to "work
together" to protect a global commerce flow that has brought
wealth to nations worldwide. "This is a fight between
unilateralism and multilateralism, protectionism and free trade, and
between hegemony and rules," Ministry of Finance spokeswoman Hua
Chunying said.


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