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The Weekly GAB Friday, December, 8, 2017
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
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USGLC in the News

DEVEX

Haley Says She Will Help UN Reform, But Warns US Funding Wont Be
'Taken for Granted' |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=4cqk7oDlchcnIMJ999aK-Q

Adva Saldinger

At the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition's annual Tribute Dinner,
where she was honored, [Ambassador] Haley spoke about her approach to
U.N. reform, a recent meeting with South Sudanese President Salva
Kiir, and U.S. humanitarian aid. "The bottom line is the United
States has carried this burden a very long time and we do it because
we know it's morally right, because that's who we are as a
country: we support, we help, we lift people up - but we
don't need to be taken for granted." she said. While
she's been leading a new era of U.S. engagement at the U.N.,
Haley has also been taking on diplomatic duties for the U.S.
government, particularly in countries facing humanitarian crises.

DEVEX

How to Defend Aid in the Trump Era: Try National Security, Business
and Faith |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=TxXd9TyxkTn7JhksuMgZ-g

Gregory Scruggs

In late February, when the Trump administration was poised to unveil a
budget of deep cuts to the State Department and the United States
Agency for International Development, a group of retired U.S. generals
and admirals put pen to paper in defense of foreign assistance.
"Now is not the time to retreat," the letter to the U.S.
Congress, signed by over 120 military leaders, concluded. The letter
was cited by both sides of the political spectrum in Congress, from
the conservative Freedom Caucus to the left-leaning Progressive
Caucus. "I couldn't believe [U.S. Senate Majority Leader]
Mitch McConnell quoted it three times," recalled John Glenn,
policy director of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, which
organized the letter.

Who's in the News

THE WASHINGTON POST

Dina Powell, Deputy National Security Adviser, to Depart Trump White
House |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=6GIE81F5uDRelNxrLA_3BA

Philip Rucker and Josh Dawsey

Deputy national security adviser Dina Powell, a driving force behind
the Trump administration's Middle East policy, plans to leave
the White House as part of an anticipated wave of departures following
President Trump's first year in office, according to four senior
administration officials. Unlike some top White House officials who
were fired or resigned amid controversy earlier this year, Powell is
exiting on good terms with the president, the officials said. She and
Trump have discussed her departure and are working on an arrangement
for Powell to continue advising the administration on Middle East
policy from outside the government, according to the officials, who
spoke on the condition of anonymity because Powell's departure
has not yet been publicly announced.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
How to Protect the World From North Korea

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Rr_qtkhuU2ccCcNUPcBPPg

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

The United States' policy toward North Korea should include
diplomatic pressure, enhanced military deterrence, close coordination
with South Korea and Japan, and a willingness to engage in direct
talks, not as a reward to Pyongyang but as a means of doing what is
necessary to protect our own security. For too long, American policy
has searched in vain for a deft, simple solution to North
Korea's nuclear ambitions. The hope has been that the regime in
Pyongyang would change, or that China would force it to capitulate.
The result has been a backward slide, forfeiting prior gains without
substituting anything new. It is time for a more realistic and serious
approach - one that exhausts the possibilities of diplomacy,
protects our citizens and does not plunge the world into an
unnecessary war.

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

Former Ambassador on Tillerson's State Department Budget Cuts: 'This
Is Not Reform; This Is Dismantlement' |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=2jlVsOsy4Ze2YFMz_9dfOA

Michael A. Lindenberger

Two of America's most respected former diplomats, Ryan Crocker and R.
Nicholas Burns, touched off a furious back-and-forth in the nation's
national security community this week when an op-ed they authored for
The New York Times sounded an alarm over Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson's plans for the State Department, which they said could soon
leave the nation's Foreign Service in tatters. Tillerson has proposed
that Congress cut the $55 billion budget by nearly a third. (On
Thursday, The Times reported that Trump is considering replacing
Tillerson by year's end.) Points caught up with Burns, who was Bush's
ambassador to NATO and was undersecretary of state for political
affairs from 2005 to 2008, on Wednesday.

Development & Diplomacy

CNN
This Map Shows Trump Nominations for Posts Around the World |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Wf3TlNGCZUzj1b9O-2OjVA

Laura Koran, Aaron Kessler and Joyce Tseng

Nearly 11 months into the Trump administration, and ten months since
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took office, the State Department
continues to grapple with vacancies across its senior ranks. Dozens of
countries do not currently have a senate-confirmed US ambassador in
place, including key US allies like South Korea, Jordan, and Saudi
Arabia. Of these vacant posts, over 30 are still awaiting a nominee,
while 11 others have nominees pending confirmation. President Trump
has been slower than his recent predecessors to nominate State
Department personnel. He has made 75 nominations for the State
Department and US Mission to the United Nations, compared to well over
100 by this date in the first year of Obama's and George W. Bush's
administrations.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Rex Tillerson, Visiting Europe, Gets Cold Shoulder |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=NSQibHwJ48n6YJ1i6ePzFw

Gardiner Harris

Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson's reception in Brussels was
distinctly chilly, as disappointment among European diplomats in
President Trump's nationalistic tone and insulting messages on
Twitter built into quiet fury on the eve of an expected announcement
that the United States would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of
Israel. In a brief public appearance beside Mr. Tillerson, Federica
Mogherini, the European Union's top diplomat...She made clear
that the European Union saw the Trump administration's possible
announcement on Jerusalem as a threat to peace in the Middle
East...Ms. Mogherini also warned the United States not to walk away
from the Iran nuclear deal, something President Trump has said he may
do.

USA TODAY
Rex Tillerson Must Go |

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

The Editorial Board

The time has come for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to step down.
The damage on his watch to American diplomacy is too significant to
ignore. It's bad enough that Tillerson abides the way President
Trump undermines his diplomatic efforts, leaving foreign powers
confused about Tillerson's true authority. It is worse that 10
months into the job, Tillerson runs a shop dangerously low in top-tier
experts. Most damning is Tillerson's hyperfocus on reorganizing the
State Department, slashing its budget by nearly a third and staffing
by 8%, as international crises multiply. Thankfully, Congress has
chosen to keep the agency fully funded. Even so, a hiring freeze has
pushed morale into free fall and crippled recruiting.

BROOKINGS

What Would Tillerson's Departure Mean For the
"Redesign?" |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=apkArYn1U8lb4haM6AscJA

Thomas A. Hill

The one area where Secretary Tillerson was given some leash was on his
ambitious "redesign" of the State Department, a laudable
objective that has been executed astonishingly poorly. The redesign of
State was initiated by the president's March 13 executive order
with draft plans submitted to OMB by September and final plans
approved and publicly released by March 2018. But if Tillerson leaves
before March 2018, what is to come of the redesign effort? The
redesign effort is likely on life support if not dead already. Maliz
Beams, the Department's Counselor and the lead for the redesign
team, quit earlier this week. Perhaps she knows that Secretary
Tillerson's days are numbered and is anticipating the
redesign's death.

DEVEX

6 Weeks After Cancellations, USAID Reinstates Foreign Service
Applicants |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Ixb5ew0URjYtKFUyXdGQkQ

Michael Igoe

Applicants for the United States Agency for International
Development's foreign service still don't have jobs, but
at least they won't have to start the hiring process all over
again. In late October, USAID abruptly informed candidates for the
agency's foreign service - many of whom had spent more
than a year in the application and clearance process - that the
positions they had applied for no longer existed. They still
don't, but now those job seekers will be allowed to remain on
USAID's active roster for jobs that may or may not become
available in the future.

FOREIGN POLICY

Lawmakers Take Aim At Tillerson's Botched State Department
Redesign |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=l0Qj5F-KnDrqjmJaejM0-g

Robbie Gramer

While Secretary of State Rex Tillerson fends off rumors he could be
out of a job within weeks, he is also facing growing criticism from
diplomats and lawmakers in both parties over his management of the
department. The latest salvo came on Tuesday, when Sens. Ben Cardin
(D-Md.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) sent Tillerson's deputy, John
Sullivan, a sharp letter expressing "significant concerns"
over Tillerson's plans to redesign the State Department and
urging Tillerson and his deputy to lift the department's hiring
freeze. They urged Tillerson and his team to "reassess the
assumptions guiding the reform effort."

BLOOMBERG
U.S. Can't Walk Away From the Global Migration Crisis |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=H9Z4LhsTNtWPa0eDghxnkA

The Editors

The U.S. decision to boycott United Nations talks on global migration
is as irrational as it was inevitable. It was always going to be hard
for President Donald Trump to resist an opportunity to snub both his
predecessor and the UN, but refusing to participate can only harm
American interests. The U.S. has a profound interest in shaping a
global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration...In announcing
the U.S. withdrawal, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the
compact "contains a number of policy goals that are inconsistent with
U.S. law and policy." Perhaps that's because the Trump administration
has repeatedly flouted some of the principles enshrined in the
declaration...Nations should detain children only "as a last resort,"
follow due process in handling asylum applications, and combat
"xenophobia, racism and discrimination" against refugees and
immigrants.

Politics & Foreign Policy

POLITICO
Congress Clears Spending Bill, Averting Shutdown |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=D-CYPydMvdLaCPbBGkTO3Q

John Bresnahan, Sarah Ferris, and Nancy Cook

Congress passed a two-week funding bill Thursday, staving off a
government shutdown a day ahead of the deadline. But lawmakers face a
turbulent next few weeks as they try to clinch a broader budget deal
by the end of the year. The more interesting action was arguably
taking place across Pennsylvania Ave. President Donald Trump met with
the "Big Four" congressional leaders - Speaker Paul
Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Pelosi and Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer - at the White House on Thursday
afternoon in a bid to jump-start negotiations over a two-year budget
deal.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Trump Urges Saudi Arabia to End Blockade of Goods Into Yemen |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=gn19QBlLIX1Z4r9PBoTKkA

Michael D. Shear and Ben Hubbard

President Trump pressed Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to fully end its
blockade of food, water, medicine and fuel into Yemen, a rare
humanitarian rebuke to the Middle East ally that he has firmly
embraced since taking office. n November, the Saudis intensified a
blockade on Yemen, stopping the entry of goods and other basic
necessities, and heightening warnings of a humanitarian crisis from
international aid groups. In a brief but blunt statement, Mr. Trump
called on the Saudi government to "completely allow food, fuel,
water and medicine to reach the Yemeni people who desperately need
it." Mr. Trump added that lifting the blockade "must be
done for humanitarian reasons immediately."

THE WASHINGTON POST

U.S. Embassy's Move to Jerusalem Should Take at Least Two Years,
Tillerson Says |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=BIXwEPb7hpGnF_-Srxm3ig

Carol Morello

Middle East politics dominated Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson's agenda on Friday: He met with the Lebanese prime
minister who took back his resignation, listened to allies criticize
the administration's Jerusalem decision and chided Saudi Arabia
to be more "measured" and "thoughtful" in
waging war in Yemen. After a day of talks, in which every leader who
appeared publicly with Tillerson expressed opposition to President
Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's
capital, the secretary predicted it will take two years or longer
before the U.S. Embassy can be physically relocated from Tel Aviv.


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