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The Weekly GAB Friday, December 22, 2017
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Ni8AWjxcEEhLGXnocDnB7Q

Who's in the News

THE WASHINGTON POST
Time Is Running Out for Yemen

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Y3w3f7gffRSjNkStoi4Jlw

David Miliband, President and CEO, International Rescue Committee

This week, the 1,000th day of Yemen's civil war is marked by
disease and starvation rather than peace talks and humanitarian aid.
This truly is the new world disorder: an increasingly divided Middle
East, western diplomacy in retreat, international law undermined. And
the options are only getting worse. There are 22.2 million Yemenis
currently in need of humanitarian assistance. Of these, 8.4 million
are at serious risk of starvation. The number of cholera cases has
just passed 1 million an astonishing figure.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
When America No Longer Is a Global Force for Good

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=8jddbFoA042EoVroMHUlCA

Susan Rice, former National Security Adviser and UN Ambassador

President Trump's National Security Strategy marks a dramatic
departure from the plans of his Republican and Democratic
predecessors, painting a dark, almost dystopian portrait of an
"extraordinarily dangerous" world characterized by hostile
states and lurking threats. There is scant mention of America's
unrivaled political, military, technological and economic strength, or
the opportunities to expand prosperity, freedom and security through
principled leadership - the foundation of American foreign
policy since World War II.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chicago Foundation Awards $100M to Syrian Children's Program |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=knyFMF2FSktZVgzUWFMZ8w

Sophia Tareen

A Chicago foundation awarded $100 million Wednesday to two New
York-based organizations to help educate millions of Syrian refugee
children through home visits, learning centers and local versions of
the educational program "Sesame Street." The John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced Sesame Workshop and the
International Rescue Committee as joint winners of a competitive grant
program aimed at solving critical problems. Their project was chosen
from more than 1,900 submitted proposals. Officials with the
organizations said they will use the five-year grant to address
"toxic stress" experienced by displaced children in
Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria, in addition to educational basics.

DEVEX

Madeleine Albright on Multilateralism, Foreign Aid Reform, and the UN
|

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=wGz7CNuIBuTdm12FhMS9dg

Adva Saldinger

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright led the United States
Department of State during one of the last big efforts to reorganize
of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State
Department, and the U.S. should heed some lessons from the past, she
told Devex in an interview. Many of the debates around aid and reform
are not new, and Albright has seen them before in previous iterations.
One of the last major pushes to merge USAID into the State Department
came from Sen. Jesse Helms while Albright led the State Department,
and there have always been some questions about the relationship
between USAID and the secretary of state and how USAID programs fit
into administration policy, Albright said.

Development & Diplomacy

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Trump Threatens to End American Aid: 'We're Watching Those
Votes' at the U.N. |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=lFidpZSAw2VjEtSeeMtxvg

Mark Landler

President Trump threatened on Wednesday to cut off American aid to any
country that votes in favor of a resolution at the United Nations
General Assembly denouncing his recent decision to formally recognize
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. "All these nations that take
our money and then vote against us at the Security Council or the
assembly, they take hundreds of millions of dollars and billions of
dollars and they vote against us," Mr. Trump said. "Well,
we're watching those votes. Let them vote against us,
we'll save a lot. We don't care."

DEVEX

What the US National Security Strategy Says About Global Development
|

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=8Ff3qT6hhi05_0aU3TgGOw

Adva Saldinger

The new United States National Security Strategy, released Monday,
outlines a U.S.-centric development policy that prioritizes working
with countries aligned with U.S. interests, calls for countering
China's influence, views development as a tool for U.S. security
and puts private sector activity at the fore. The strategy puts in
writing what U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator
Mark Green has been saying in speeches since he took the position:
That "the purpose of U.S. foreign assistance should be to end
the need for it," that U.S. foreign assistance will not promote
dependency, and that it will prioritize working with countries, or
"aspiring partners" as it puts it, that are aligned with
U.S. interests.

FOREIGN POLICY
Let USAID Run USAID
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=jamopXtr3BU5T0F_fr5wEQ

Daniel Runde, served in the George W. Bush Administration at USAID

For the last ten years, USAID's spending decisions have been
controlled by the so called "F office" (a central
accounting and budgeting office) at the State Department. Now, under
the Trump administration's draft plans for reorganization, it
seems likely that USAID will be held accountable for managing all
foreign assistance implemented by USAID while the State Department,
through a more refined F office, will be responsible for State
Department-controlled monies that are implemented by the State
Department (checks to UN agencies, security sector assistance, etc.).

USGLC GLOBAL IMPACT BLOG
12 Months of USGLC |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=vrEt1UIpZu3ly789X4D91w

Megan Rabbitt

2017 brought a steady stream of challenges and changes to U.S. foreign
policy and development assistance from a new Administration taking the
reins, to a budget proposal that sent shockwaves through Washington,
to a steady drumbeat of support for American global leadership. If you
had a tough time keeping up with the dizzying pace of the news cycle,
you weren't alone but we're here to help. We've
gathered 12 of the top stories from the past year one from each month
that you won't want to miss. Here's USGLC's look
back at 2017.

USGLC GLOBAL IMPACT BLOG
USGLC's Top 10 Blogs of 2017 |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=_p_MePyeb0gTwBrBdV7ijA

Megan Guilfoyle

With mounting challenges overseas from the world's worst
humanitarian crisis since World War II, to devastating famines, to
tension with North Korea this year has shown us that American global
leadership is more important now than ever before. And as the year
draws to a close, we've rounded up our top ten blogs of 2017 the
inspiring stories of U.S. foreign assistance, it's impact around
the world and here at home. Here are the stories that give us hope for
a better, safer world in 2018.

Politics & Foreign Policy

THE WASHINGTON POST

U.N. Passes Measure Implicitly Condemning Trump Administration's
Recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli Capital |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=rv6FNXGfVdvqpMnl7hysug

Carol Morello

The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly passed
a measure rejecting the Trump administration's decision to
recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, which was repeatedly
criticized as undermining the prospects for peace. Despite blunt
warnings of U.S. funding cuts, 128 countries voted in favor of the
nonbinding resolution and only nine voted against it. Another 35
countries abstained. "The United States will remember this day
in which it was singled out in this assembly for the very act of
exercising our right as a sovereign nation," said Nikki Haley,
the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. "We will remember it when, once
again, we are called up to make the world's largest contribution
to the U.N., and we will remember it when many countries come calling
on us to pay even more and to use our influence for their
benefit."

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Pence Makes Surprise Trip to Afghanistan |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Q9oJ-688_dWdOVMgUr_B5g

Gordon Lubold

Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Afghanistan on an unannounced
trip Thursday, telling officials the U.S. and Afghan governments are
now poised for victory in a country ravaged by more than 16 years of
war. "We believe that we are now on a path to achieve a lasting
victory for freedom and security in Afghanistan," Mr. Pence told
a gathering of officials at the Presidential Palace in Kabul that
included President Ashraf Ghani and the country's chief
executive, Abdullah Abdullah.

POLITICO
Leaked Memo Schooled Tillerson on Human Rights |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=97S2yo7LXdwtvYVpteV54A

Nahal Toosi

Three months into his tenure as secretary of state, Rex Tillerson
alarmed veteran diplomats with remarks that sounded like a potential
shift in American foreign policy: The U.S., he said, should be careful
not to let values like human rights create "obstacles" to the pursuit
of its interests. Two weeks later, a top Tillerson adviser [Brian
Hook] wrote up a short tutorial, in the form of a confidential memo to
his boss, recapping "the debate over how far to emphasize human
rights, democracy promotion, and liberal values in American foreign
policy."

THE WASHINGTON POST

Trump's Tough Talk Can't Hide the Incoherence of His
Foreign Policy |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=R0oQTuD5eiL3HwbSwbV2ww

Ishaan Tharoor

On Monday, President Trump delivered what his administration billed as
a landmark address on national security, outlining once more the
tenets of his "America First" doctrine. Nothing he said
was particularly surprising. The speech, like so many Trump addresses,
hinged on a recitation of his triumphs, real and imagined. He appealed
to his right-wing, nationalist base, growled about the need to
strengthen borders and cast America as a protagonist "engaged in
a new era of competition." For all his bravura and tub-thumping
patriotism, the dissonance between Trump's words and his
administration's now-stated policy was impossible to ignore. Rothman
argued that the written document displayed "a relatively
conventional Republican approach to foreign affairs," a phrase
that describes neither Trump's remarks - both on Monday and in
general - nor the experience of the past year, which has been
marked by erratic presidential behavior and mixed messaging.

FOREIGN POLICY

U.N. Human Rights Chief to Leave, Citing 'Appalling'
Climate for Advocacy |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=jKtz9wlQtMsDCJESVNJSwg

Colum Lynch

The United Nations' top human rights advocate told his staff
that he will not seek a second term, citing concern that his voice
would be silenced in an age when the United States and other world
powers are retreating from their historical commitment to human
rights. Zeid Ra'ad Hussein, a Jordanian prince and former
ambassador who served as a U.N. political officer during the Bosnian
war, announced his plan in an end-of-year email to employees of the
Geneva-based human rights agency. His term ends in the summer of 2018.

POLITICO
GOP Defectors Block Trump Nominee to Head Ex-Im Bank |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=37Z-j7PWeJLu4QyQOOtjQQ

Zachary Warmbrodt

Two Senate Republicans joined with Democrats on Tuesday to block the
confirmation of President Donald Trump's pick to head the
Export-Import Bank, a rare rejection of a Trump appointee by members
of his own party and prominent business groups. The outcome had been
building for months after the White House and the nominee, former Rep.
Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), failed to win over lawmakers who were
suspicious of why Garrett would want to lead an agency that he tried
to shut down when he served in Congress. Garrett went down in a 13-10
vote by the Senate Banking Committee.


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