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The Weekly GAB Friday, August 24, 2018
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=yAT_DgcLOXpqELOwoHj1lw

Who's in the News

THE HILL
Four Steps to Protect Families at the World's Borders

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=2wjGBw-t2yzkB60UXVK88Q

Michelle Nunn, President & CEO of CARE

Record displacement is a challenge of our time. CARE has more than
tripled the number of people we reach worldwide through emergency
assistance within the past five years. The governments we work with,
including Jordan, are being strained under the weight of refugee
flows. For every 10 Jordanians there is one refugee - the
equivalent of the entire population of Canada moving to the United
States... One day the lens of history will focus on America's
role in this period of unprecedented human displacement. Let's
hope it shows an America that, rather than cutting the legs out from
under refugees, chose to support families in their darkest hours
around the world, acting as the leg upon which they can stand.

Development & Diplomacy

THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
GOP Senator: White House Won't Send New Rescission Package |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Nix1m6zY-Aui_QEt4pNnjg

Susan Ferrechio

The White House is poised to back down on sending Congress a second
package of spending rescissions, a GOP lawmaker said Wednesday. Sen.
Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told reporters the Trump administration is
signaling it won't send the package, which would claw back
appropriated spending. "I doubt they are going to do the
rescission piece," Corker said. "I think they've had
enough pushback where that likely will not happen." ...
"We understand it's moving in the right direction,"
Corker said, characterizing the talks. He couldn't guarantee a
package won't land on the steps of Congress anyway. "They
might have done something in the last five minutes; I don't
know," Corker said.

THE HILL

State's 'Swagger' Will Be a Limp If OMB's
Rescission Goes Through

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=F5DRpUsC8sQIr0XC6WDt0g

Daniel Runde, Senior Vice President, CSIS

The Trump administration may pay a high and long-term geostrategic
price for a short-term budget "win" for the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB)... It is not in anyone's interest
for this to go forward, least of all the administration. The OMB may
be able to get this rescission done this one time, but Congress will
find ways in the future to close the loophole the OMB is using.
Congress could then take a number of very strong steps to reduce the
Trump administration's -- and future administrations' --
ability to use our soft power in ways that back up executive branch
national security and foreign policy priorities... In FY18 and FY19,
Congress very clearly said that foreign assistance is of strategic
importance to the United States and 30 percent cuts would have
disastrous consequences for U.S. foreign policy.

AP NEWS
Melania Trump Planning Solo International Swing to Africa |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=HQqgc5AfvJCUENM7DJEzxw

Darlene Superville

Melania Trump is planning her first big solo international swing with
a trip through several African countries in October. The first lady
told The Associated Press in a written statement Monday that
she's looking forward to learning about the issues that children
living on the continent face, as well as appreciating Africa's
history and culture. She recently launched a U.S.-based effort focused
on the well-being of children... Her spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham,
said the first lady chose Africa as the destination for her first big
solo international trip after she learned about some of the
development programs that are underway in many of its countries. Those
programs include investments by the U.S. in children's health
and education, Grisham said.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

U.S. Will Not Spend $230 Million Allocated to Repair Devastated Syrian
Cities |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=d5EBWWmqJp1c1sER0lCOZQ

Gardiner Harris and Ben Hubbard

The Trump administration announced Friday that it had decided against
spending $230 million earmarked to help stabilize Syria, the United
States' latest step back from a seven-year war that has been
largely won by a brutal government and its Russian and Iranian
backers. Administration officials said they would alert Congress that
the money, which had already been approved, would not be spent to fix
water systems, clear rubble or dig up unexploded mines in Syrian
cities and towns that have been devastated by the war. Those repairs
were seen as vital to persuading hundreds of thousands of Syrian
refugees to return home - people the Trump administration has
largely barred from resettling in the United States.

TIME

Rohingya Refugees 'Stand on the Precipice of More Tragedy' One Year
After Brutal Crackdown |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=bHlS_IE_0CkUlPwn3fEiyw

Eli Meixler

Saturday marks the first anniversary of one of the darkest events in
Myanmar's recent history: Aug. 25, the beginning of a military
campaign of extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, and arson that
drove more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims from the country's
western Rakhine state. Top diplomats and U.N. officials have labeled
the military's crusade as ethnic cleansing and some have likened
it to genocide... Some 140,000 Rohingya remain interred in
displacement camps in Rakhine, since they were expelled from the state
capital Sittwe in 2012 in the aftermath of sectarian riots that
claimed nearly 100 lives... Human rights advocates are calling for
Myanmar's generals to face prosecution at the International
Criminal Court (ICC). But for the Rohingya, the crisis is far from
over: over 1 million refugees now languish in sprawling refugee camps
in neighboring Bangladesh with no guarantee of a safe return to
Myanmar.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Poor Countries Have an Unlikely Ally Close to the White House |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=mjMO-LmXKePNBg1q3yQwfg

Adva Saldinger

Since OPIC was established, the relationship between rich countries
like the United States and the developing world has changed
dramatically. In the 1970s, most money flowing into developing
countries was in the form of aid. That paradigm has been flipped on
its head; the vast majority today is foreign direct investment... A
bill making its way through Congress would create a new, better funded
and more powerful agency that would effectively replace OPIC. This is
perhaps the most significant shift in American development policy
since the founding of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief in 2003... The changes are long overdue. Similar European
institutions were established years ago. But that's not the main
reason for this dramatic shift. The new OPIC is seen as a way to
counter China's growing influence in Asia and Africa.

Politics & Foreign Policy

THE HILL
China's Race to the Bottom in Africa

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=63lUwUHhlhvG7Lw0dwIjeA

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), Chairman of the Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Africa

Chinese President Xi Jinping recently began a multi-country tour of
sub-Saharan Africa looking to expand his country's influence on
the continent. The trip came amidst increasing concerns about shoddy
construction of infrastructure, rapidly rising levels of debt of
African countries, and corrupt autocrats benefitting from foreign
investment... China may offer African governments many attractive
short-term incentives for partnerships, but the long-term goal of
Beijing remains to maximize its own interests in the region. At a
hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Africa Subcommittee that I
chaired in March, experts testified that as China offers collaboration
with African countries, the abuses that we see regularly in
China-human rights violations, repression of civil society, lack
of transparency and accountability-are also gripping the region.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Ford Executive Stephen Biegun to Lead North Korea Talks |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=m7S0yyytNFCD43q84WBAQQ

Jessica Donati

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that Ford Motor
Co.'s Stephen Biegun would take over nuclear talks with North
Korea as the new special representative, naming an industry executive
with extensive international experience at a time when the talks
largely have stalled. Mr. Pompeo said that Mr. Biegun, who served as
the company's vice president of international governmental
affairs, would travel with him to North Korea next week. They will
attempt to prod negotiations that have halted over disagreements about
the pace of denuclearization, a declaration of peace, and what
concessions the U.S. may be prepared to offer to show good faith.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
South Korea Pushes Ahead With Diplomatic Office in North Korea |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=b0uM9KPOLhYGsLjKpkSs0Q

Choe Sang-Hun

South Korea said on Wednesday that it would press ahead with its plan
to open a diplomatic "liaison office" in North Korea this
year, dismissing concerns that it was too quickly making overtures to
the North Koreans, who have yet to begin dismantling their nuclear
weapons program... But the conservative political opposition and the
conservative news media in the South have since raised fears that Mr.
Moon's government is creating a rift with Washington by
advancing inter-Korean relations when North Korea has taken no clear
steps toward denuclearization. They also questioned whether fuel oil
and electricity, which the South plans to supply the office, would
violate United Nations sanctions... Mr. Moon has emphasized that he
will coordinate closely with Washington on any effort to improve
relations with the North and rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons.

AXIOS
Trump Envoy Held Secret Meeting with Palestinian President's Son |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=EvU05mGNuScNkg3fiij-aQ

Barak Ravid

President Trump's special envoy for Middle East peace, Jason
Greenblatt, held a secret meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas's son last September on the margins of the UN General Assembly
in New York, Israeli officials tell me. They met to discuss the White
House efforts to get a deal between Israel and the Palestinians. The
Israeli officials say the undisclosed meeting was an attempt by the
White House to strengthen ties with Abbas's inner circle and
potentially even create channels to promote the Trump administration's
peace efforts in the future... Trump and Abbas will both be in New
York this year for the General Assembly but are not expected to meet.
Trump and his advisers are still committed to putting their peace plan
on the table in the upcoming months but haven't decided when and
how to launch it.

THE WASHINGTON POST
Why Countries Might Want Out of China's Belt and Road |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=nbecED1Y9tWUWZNny4XHEg

Adam Taylor

China has never spared any effort to portray its Belt and Road
Initiative, a grand, trillion-dollar-plus global investment plan, as a
positive vision for the world... But not everyone is convinced that
Belt and Road is such a great plan - either for China or the
countries in which it's investing. And with Malaysia announcing
Tuesday that it has shelved two major infrastructure projects being
built by Chinese companies because of high costs, many more leaders
around the world may be wondering whether Chinese investment is a good
deal... The discontent may come from within China, too. A string of
defaults on Belt and Road loans could cause Beijing fiscal problems,
and risky loans to foreign countries are now a tougher sell for
President Xi Jinping as the domestic economy faces its own issues. If
a serious downturn hits while China is showering cash on projects
abroad, Bloomberg News's Shuli Ren warns, "you can expect
a revolt."

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Mexico's Economy Minister Plays Down Chances of Nafta Deal
Thursday |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=8ml38Ra-zKNbgo3rO1deeQ

Josh Zumbrun

Mexico's economy minister Ildefonso Guajardo played down the
chances of Mexico and the U.S. reaching a preliminary trade deal
Thursday, saying that it is "better to have a good agreement
than a fast agreement." Mr. Guajardo spoke to reporters before
heading into talks with the U.S. Trade Representative's office
over bilateral issues between the U.S. and Mexico, as part of ongoing
negotiations to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement. U.S.
and Mexican officials had hoped to have a deal as soon as Thursday but
the two sides have yet to work out final details on rules governing
the automobile trade in Nafta. Mr. Guajardo Thursday declined to
address the remaining sticking points in the negotiations. He said
that the objective of the negotiators was still to "do our best
to complete the agreement as soon as possible."

AXIOS
Why the Taliban Should Accept Afghanistan's Ceasefire Offer

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=KcWBXUkXlPaw7aWOkGrcvg

Sahar Khan, Visiting Research Fellow, CATO Institute

After a particularly violent summer, Afghanistan's president, Ashraf
Ghani, proposed a three-month ceasefire with the Taliban this past
Sunday, to begin on Monday. It follows a first ceasefire implemented
during Eid al-Fitr, in June, which saw both Afghan security forces and
Taliban insurgents refrain from attacks... The Taliban of course can
simply reject the ceasefire and continue attacks on Afghan security
forces. But in accepting Ghani's offer, the group would show a
serious interest in a political solution. It would also distinguish
itself from other violent militant groups operating in Afghanistan,
such as ISIS, which launched rockets on Kabul residents celebrating
Eid on Tuesday. A second ceasefire right now is in every major
stakeholder's interest - even the Taliban's.


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