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The Weekly GAB Friday, September 21, 2018
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=kt4e-Jfxy9P6t0jbeEqCdg

USGLC in the News

THE WASHINGTON POST
Generals Urge Trump Not to 'Retreat' on Foreign Aid |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=XkVkXBTmm_34Y6IYhhAeZA

Josh Rogin

The White House has proposed slashing funding for diplomacy and
development by about 30 percent for two years in a row. For the
moment, Congress has again forestalled such drastic cuts, but the
fight is far from over. That's why about a dozen retired three-
and four-star generals and admirals toured Capitol Hill last week,
looking ahead to the next budget fight - with a new Congress
- after the November elections. They represent a group of more
than 200 retired senior military officers who are working to lobby
Congress and the Trump administration to support money for diplomacy
and development to avoid the need to send in the troops.

THE DES MOINES REGISTER

Iowa Veteran: It Takes More Than Our Military to Keep America Safe and
Strong

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

Bernie Stone, U.S. Army (Ret.)

During my service, I had the opportunity to see firsthand what
American development and foreign assistance programs can achieve...
America should not risk its ability to foster economic prosperity and
global security by forcing those tasked with executing our foreign
policy to work with one hand tied behind their back. We must ensure
that America continues to utilize diplomacy, development, and where
necessary military intervention to protect our interests. Funding the
International Affairs Budget is a prerequisite.

Who's in the News

USA TODAY
We Remain the World's Most Generous Nation

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=qqNI67pQDtB12dq11a7tJQ

Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State

I am proud that one of America's greatest qualities is our
steadfast generosity and willingness to welcome families who have
faced circumstances most of us cannot fathom, including war and ethnic
cleansing. Refugees are among the world's most vulnerable
people, and America has embraced about 3 million of them since 1980...
We are putting a new focus on increasing assistance to refugees and
other displaced people as close to their home countries as possible.
We can house, feed and provide medical care for hundreds of thousands
more refugees closer to their homes, and do so more rapidly, than we
could possibly do here in the U.S. We are also prioritizing the safe
and voluntary return of refugees to their home countries when
conditions permit - a solution that most refugees prefer.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Refugee Crisis Is a Test of Our Collective Conscience

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=UoO5ZZzT04M7CwVNd9a93Q

Ban Ki-Moon, Fmr. Secretary General of the UN

As secretary general, I met so many children around the world,
particularly in Africa and the Middle East, who reminded me of my own
wrenching experience of displacement. Seeing myself in each of them, I
have remained determined to elevate the plight of refugees to the top
of the global agenda today... Faced with images of unthinkable
suffering from the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, or with evidence of
gross human rights violations in Myanmar and elsewhere, too many
leaders have lacked the necessary courage to respond with generosity
and support. Some leaders have gone so far as to actively encourage
prejudice against refugees and migrants simply to win votes.

NPR

U.S. Support of Saudi Bombing Campaign in Yemen Comes Under Scrutiny
|

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=uxQNX9o7OcCB-iqlHeQ4cg

Ari Shapiro, David Miliband

As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, the U.S. should be
leading the drive to tackle these threats to regional peace and
security. The U.N. General Assembly is meeting next week in New York.
President Trump will be speaking. Secretary Pompeo will be there.
World leaders will be there. I want to see the world wake up to what's
happening in Yemen. I want to see the United States taking the
appropriate role for a global superpower, which is to be a diplomatic
superpower, not just a military superpower.

Development & Diplomacy

THE GUARDIAN
Bill Gates: 'Trump Could Be Persuaded' on US Foreign Aid Spending |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=R_HkIS2YRRQtE5X0HxU4kw

Rebecca Ratcliffe and Polly Toynbee

Donald Trump is "open-minded" about policies and might be
persuaded on foreign aid, Bill Gates has said in an exclusive
interview with the Guardian. The billionaire philanthropist said
President Trump does not have a fixed ideology in most areas and is
open to new ideas, "particularly if it's doing things in a
different way than was done before". He added that Trump had
already been influenced by arguments put forward by US defence
secretary Jim Mattis, who emphasised the importance of soft power.

CNBC

Gates Foundation Warns a Decades-Long Progress in Fighting Disease and
Poverty May Reverse |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=e5fAACrh3UDms0zlsrDZYQ

Angelica LaVito

Progress in fighting poverty and disease may soon stall, and could
even reverse, after nearly two decades of progress, Bill and Melinda
Gates warn. More people are being born in the world's poorest
countries, which could halt the decline in the number of extremely
poor people and possibly even cause the number to rise, the
billionaire philanthropists wrote in the Gates Foundation's second
"Goalkeepers Data Report." That would overshadow the fact that more
than 1 billion people have lifted themselves out of poverty since
2000. Despite the worrisome outlook, they're optimistic that investing
in the young people can help avoid it.

NPR
Why the U.S. Ranks at the Bottom in a Foreign Aid Index |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=9SK_kmXtSyz6nTWj2U-MKA

Joanne Lu

The United States' commitment to global development does not look good
compared with that of other wealthy countries - and it's likely
to get worse. According to an annual index released Tuesday by the
Center for Global Development that ranks 27 of the world's wealthiest
countries, the U.S. scored dead last on foreign aid contributions and
quality - despite being the largest donor in dollar amount.
That's because in 2017, it allocated a mere 0.18 percent of its gross
national income for development assistance... Overall, Sweden, Denmark
are first and second, respectively, while Germany shares third place
with Finland - the first time a non-Scandinavian country has
broken into the top three. The U.S. ranked 23rd.

DEVEX
USAID Adopts a Hard Line on China's Development Approach |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=qVKTV2FLduYcTxQgcrqPkQ

Michael Igoe

Trump administration development leaders are not mincing words when it
comes to positioning the United States Agency for International
Development as a key player in the battle with China for influence in
developing countries and emerging markets... Faced with a White House
that openly questions the value of foreign assistance and development
spending, aid leaders have argued that their programs offer an
important counterweight to China's extensive investments across
Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

REUTERS
Pompeo Seeks Rapprochement With Alienated U.S. Diplomats |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=beh-Pwb6ejy3QRg0bVgxBg

Arshad Mohammed

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has nearly doubled promotions of
top American diplomats as he seeks to restore diplomatic ties with a
workforce alienated by his predecessor, Rex Tillerson... The charm
offensive by the former Republican lawmaker and CIA director includes
resuming the hiring of diplomats' family members when posted
abroad, cheerleading emails to staff about his travels and a push to
replenish the top ranks of U.S. diplomacy, officials said. The most
tangible sign of Pompeo's effort may be the State Department
promotion lists, disclosed internally since Aug. 31 and reviewed by
Reuters, which show Pompeo has sharply increased the number of
diplomats promoted to three of the top four ranks.

DEVEX
Why NGOs Cannot Fill the Gap Funding Cuts to UNRWA Will Create |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=e4hvSi43L9ip6p5bst49Og

Amy Lieberman

Experts at international and local NGOs are warning that they will
struggle to fill major aid gaps expected as a result of the United
States' recent decision to cut all funding to the United Nations
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East... The
result is a massive deficit that other smaller organizations in Gaza
and the West Bank are unlikely to make up for, given UNRWA's
independent structure and implementation methods. UNRWA's 2017
budget was around $1.1 billion - about half of which went toward
salaries, wages, and employee benefits that year.

Politics & Foreign Policy

POLITICO
Pompeo Restarts North Korea Talks, Sets 2021 Deadline |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=eV0HW1RW6gO-zbr990UHgQ

Ramsen Shamone

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said that he would restart
denuclearization talks with North Korea with the goal of completing
the process by 2021. The comments came on the heels of meetings this
week between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un, after which Kim vowed to dismantle parts of his
nuclear program in exchange for certain concessions from the United
States... The announcement is a change in tone for the U.S. Last
month, President Donald Trump canceled a planned Pompeo visit to
Pyongyang, saying the two sides were not making enough progress.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

North and South Korea Push to End Korean War, but U.S. Remains Wary |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=uglJ_sM2-3-hFB82cW8wxg

Choe Sang-Hun

When President Moon Jae-in of South Korea sits down Tuesday with Kim
Jong-un, North Korea's leader, for their third summit meeting,
they will share a common goal: fashioning a political statement this
year declaring the end of the Korean War. Such a declaration, although
not a legally binding treaty, could carry far-reaching repercussions,
helping North Korea escalate its campaign for the withdrawal of
American troops from the South, analysts said. For that and other
reasons, the United States has strong reservations about such a
breakthrough... Washington insists that North Korea has often cheated
in past negotiations, and first wants the North to take more concrete
steps toward denuclearization - such as submitting a full list
of its nuclear weapons and fissile materials for verification -
before being rewarded.

AXIOS
At UN General Assembly, "America First" Likely to Cause More Clashes

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=tUgYA93gZen2amN5sJDRvw

Joel Rubin, President, Washington Strategy Group, Fmr. Deputy Asst.
Secretary of State

When President Trump addresses the UN General Assembly (UNGA) -
the ultimate multilateral pageant - on September 25, he will be
engaging a global community that has experienced his foreign policy
for what it is: American unilateralism. Since the last UNGA, when he
declared his doctrine of "America First," Trump's
unorthodox diplomacy has disrupted several multilateral meetings, from
NATO to the G7... Despite the Trump administration's "America First"
doctrine, the U.S. still needs allies. If it didn't, Trump
wouldn't be chairing a UNGA special session on Iran and nuclear
nonproliferation, both issues that will require multilateralism.

THE WASHINGTON POST

Chaos or Not, Trump is Racking Up a Record of Foreign Policy Success |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=u8-N3zPv4Dfy6EWll2PXXg

Marc A. Thiessen

In his new book "Fear," Bob Woodward recounts that in
April 2017, after President Trump saw images of dead Syrian children
with their mouths foaming from a sarin attack, he called Defense
Secretary Jim Mattis and issued an order: Get me a plan for a military
strike to take out Syrian President Bashar al-Assad... Today, as Assad
menaces 3 million civilians in the last rebel stronghold, the Idlib
province, it's clear that Trump's instinct was right. We
should have taken out the Syrian dictator last year. When Trump was
elected in 2016, many worried that he would usher in a new age of
American isolationism and withdrawal. That hasn't happened.
Trump has pursued a foreign policy that is not only not isolationist
but also a significant improvement over his predecessor's.

POLITICO
Pompeo, Kerry Clash in Remarkable Stand-Off Over Iran |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=2GlfcugQGVJ3jh22zZtwmw

Nahal Toosi, Matthew Choi, and Jesse Rodriguez

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his predecessor John Kerry clashed
Friday over the latter's private meetings with Iranian officials, a
remarkable war of words that had both sides accusing the other of
dishonesty. Pompeo alleged that, by holding "beyond inappropriate"
meetings with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, Kerry was
undermining U.S. foreign policy in an "unprecedented" manner. The
secretary's comments came after President Donald Trump asserted in a
tweet that Kerry's meetings with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad
Zarif were "illegal." Kerry and his aides dismissed such
allegations as utter bunk, pointing out that Kerry had briefed Pompeo
and the State Department about his discussions with Zarif.

ABC News
US, Canada Working 24/7 on Revamped NAFTA Deal |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=tZJ4AKrycLq7YEbvdt1ejg

Luis Alonso Lugo

U.S. and Canadian negotiators are working around the clock on a deal
to keep Canada in a North American trade bloc ahead of a Sept. 30 U.S.
deadline. "Our officials are in pretty much constant contact,"
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland told reporters
after meetings Thursday with her counterpart, U.S. Trade Rep. Robert
Lighthizer. "It would not be an exaggeration to say they are working
24/7." ... Canada was left out when the United States and Mexico
reached an agreement last month to revamp the North American Free
Trade Agreement. Freeland is trying to get the No. 2 U.S. trade
partner reinstated.


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