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The Weekly GAB Friday, January 25, 2019
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
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USGLC in the News

THE HILL
Russia and China Take No Timeout During the Government Shutdown

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=IaT-6ZssF3P-oXGy-FsFww

Liz Schrayer, President and CEO, U.S. Global Leadership Coalition

With nonstop headlines on the federal government shutdown, there have
rightly been significant concerns raised about the impact on everyday
Americans, most of all the tremendous hardship on our furloughed
public servants... But we also ignore the growing impact on our
national security when our diplomats and development professionals
work with depleted teams... While the State Department has found a way
to fund its operations for the next two weeks, there is no promise for
what happens next, not to mention the number of other international
agencies that are impacted by the shutdown. Frankly, it is dangerous.

Development & Diplomacy

CBS NEWS

Pompeo Pledges $20 Million in Venezuela Aid at Request of U.S.-Backed
Opposition Leader |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=XG9BDrsZiGRQBb0vr4mBJQ

Camilo Montoya-Galmez

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the U.S. government is prepared
to dispatch more than $20 million in humanitarian aid to Venezuela as
soon as "logistically possible." America's top diplomat said his
announcement was in direct response to requests made by National
Assembly President Juan Guaidó, recognized by the Trump administration
and other countries as Venezuela's interim president. "The United
States is ready to provide more than 20 million in humanitarian
assistance to the people of Venezuela," Pompeo said Thursday during a
special meeting held by the Organization of American States (OAS).
"These funds are to help them cope with the severe food and medicine
shortages, and other dire impacts of their country's political and
economic crisis."

NPR
Report Says 1 in 3 U.N. Staffers Has Been Sexually Harassed |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=mx5j6Cnko7taVYusz75odw

Malaka Gharib

One in 3 U.N. employees has reported being sexually harassed in the
past two years, according to a survey that the United Nations released
last week. It's part of an unfortunate trend in the humanitarian
sector: complaints about sexual harassment, bullying and other
unacceptable workplace behavior. The U.N. survey comes on the heels of
a UNAIDS report in December, which confirmed that its leadership
failed to address widespread complaints of bullying and sexual
harassment... There may be reasons why organizations like the U.N. are
prone to such issues. Nate Rabe, a senior humanitarian professional
who has worked with the U.N. and many international non-governmental
organizations, told NPR: "Much of the work of the U.N. et al is done
in remote areas" and in regions where the norms about sexual
harassment are less clear.

THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Stem the Flow of Migrants by Fixing the Failed States of the Northern
Triangle
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=gjzC0RYCX7T3cCkQHnAOMA

Morgan Ortagus, former U.S. Treasury Attaché, and Matthew Swift,
Co-Founder and CEO, Concordia Summit

It's time to admit that our half-hearted policies in the
Northern Triangle have failed. As Henry Kissinger once said regarding
the region, "There is, however, no logical argument for giving some
aid but not enough." The answer in the Northern Triangle isn't
just throwing more aid money at the problem... The countries need a
real "path to self-reliance" as Ambassador Mark Green
(administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development) has
directed, and towards an era of good governance, strong security,
tackling of narco-trafficking, and opportunity... In addressing these
seemingly insurmountable problems, we face an important
differentiating factor today: the recognition that the U.S.
doesn't have all the solutions to overcoming the region's
challenges.

CNN BUSINESS

10% of the World Lives on $2 a Day. It's Time for Businesses to Step
Up

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=yxbmQ7xwZ9ZwFRFhVAye0Q

Chuck Robbins, Chairman and CEO, Cisco

Imagine living on less than $2 a day... That's the reality for nearly
10% of the world's population - people who struggle for basic
needs on a daily basis. For those of us who lead businesses around the
world, such a reality is likely far from our daily thoughts... But
what if we did alter our focus? ... As business leaders, we must take
responsibility to help those who are left behind. In today's world, we
bear an obligation to address how to make growth inclusive, extending
it to those who most need opportunities to improve their lives,
educate their children, access health care and benefit from the
digital economy.

AP NEWS
US Aid Cuts Hit Palestinians, Further Dimming Hope for Peace |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=UYNjBdwlZooqPPQgR0nrdA

Joseph Krauss

Tens of thousands of Palestinians are no longer getting food aid or
basic health services from America, U.S.-funded infrastructure
projects have been halted, and an innovative peace-building program in
Jerusalem is scaling back its activities. The Trump
administration's decision last year to cut more than $200
million in development aid to the Palestinians is forcing NGOs to
slash programs and lay off staff as the effects ripple through a
community that has spent more than two decades promoting peace in the
Middle East. The U.S. government's development agency, USAID,
has provided more than $5.5 billion to the Palestinians since 1994 for
infrastructure, health, education, governance and humanitarian aid
programs, all intended to underpin the eventual creation of an
independent state.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
More Schools and Fewer Tanks for the Mideast |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=DTMxOhAArjJqFi88bC8s6A

Thomas L. Friedman

Why is it that the one Arab Spring country that managed to make a
relatively peaceful transition from dictatorship to a constitutional
democracy - with full empowerment for its women - is the
country we've had the least to do with and where we've
never sent soldiers to fight and die? It's called Tunisia... All
of this shapes how I think about Trump's abrupt order to
withdraw from Syria and desire to get out of Afghanistan... I'd
take $2 billion of the $45 billion we'd save from getting out of
Afghanistan and invest it regionally in all the cultural changes that
made Tunisia unique - across the whole Arab world... Since 9/11,
we've relied almost entirely on hard power. Some was needed,
some is still needed, but most of it failed. It's time we tried
more soft power.

USGLC GLOBAL IMPACT BLOG
Bill Gates, Matt Damon and Bono Walk into a Room |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=llKIgHvczb1y_nzRf0jMmw

Joan Steiger

Each year, the World Economic Forum (WEF) draws leaders and luminaries
from every corner of the globe and all spheres of influence, including
government, business, civil society, academia and media, to Davos,
Switzerland. Many high-profile presenters were in attendance at this
week's events, speaking on the theme of Globalization
4.0-both a nod to the increasingly digital, interconnected world
and a call for heightened global cooperation in the face of rising
nationalism. Over the years, WEF has become a springboard to discuss
pressing humanitarian issues. And while some major delegations
remained absent, Bill Gates, Bono, Matt Damon, and other major players
made the trip to the Alps to discuss everything from poverty and human
rights to food security and clean water access.

Politics & Foreign Policy

NBC NEWS

Why Trump Is Trying to Oust Maduro from Venezuela, but Not Other
Global Dictators |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=1NMrErb87C1fla_XjCie8w

Andrea Mitchell

President Donald Trump's quick embrace of Venezuelan opposition leader
Juan Guaidó on Wednesday was a notable departure from his "America
First" aversion to foreign entanglements. But diplomats in the region
say Trump has long argued for regime change in Venezuela, fueled by
fierce opposition to the socialist Nicolás Maduro and his disastrous
economic policies, as well as the Maduro regime's connections to
Cuba... There has been no U.S. ambassador in Caracas since 2010... For
months the president's Venezuela policy has practically been
subcontracted to Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the administration's point
person for getting rid of Maduro. And all this is happening with a
State Department decimated by vacancies, demoralized by an
unprecedented politicization of the nonpartisan foreign service, and
for the last month, crippled by the government shutdown.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Trump, Congress Reach Tentative Deal to Reopen Government for Three
Weeks |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=GNDUPulf261EezpOlHcJpw

Rebecca Ballhaus, Kristina Peterson, and Gordon Lubold

President Trump and congressional leaders have reached a deal to
reopen the government for three weeks while negotiations over border
security funding continue. Mr. Trump made the announcement in a Rose
Garden address. The accord would end the partial government shutdown
that began on Dec. 22. The deal-would amount to at least a
temporary concession by Mr. Trump to Democrats-wouldn't
provide immediate funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border,
administration officials said. The deal would fund the government
through Feb. 15 and start negotiations between the House and Senate
over a full-year bill funding the Homeland Security Department, which
oversees the border, aides said.

NPR

What I Learned Leading America's 1st Nuclear Inspection in North Korea

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=JEg5oONPmwN-En44cZqfwg

Joel Wit, Henry L. Stimson Center and 38North Project

With a second summit between President Trump and North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un expected in late February, one crucial question looms
large: Will Kim give up his nuclear weapons program? If the past is
any guide, a new North Korean pledge to denuclearize will be eyed
warily in the West... I was the State Department official in charge of
implementing the 1994 North Korean denuclearization deal. In the
spring of 1999, I led the first American nuclear inspection in North
Korea. It was an exercise fraught with difficulties that landed my
team and me in hours-long detention at a remote North Korean army base
near the border with China... Here are some lessons I learned as one
of the few Americans who has attempted to verify North Korea's actions
from the inside.

THE WASHINGTON POST
President Trump Spins Asylum Restrictions as Humanitarian Relief |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=-hZ0eNPfgKa_04zOoojr0w

Salvador Rizzo

President Trump says he's concerned for Central American
children making a potentially hazardous trek to the United States. But
his noble sentiments and honeyed words are at odds with the tough-love
solution he's proposing. The journey from Central America to the
U.S.-Mexico border comes with risks. The White House notes that
"nearly one-third of women are sexually assaulted." This
statistic comes from Doctors Without Borders, which interviewed 56
women for a report in 2017 and found that 31.4 percent were
"sexually abused" on the journey; 10.7 percent were
raped... There's a disconnect between Trump's concern for
child safety and what his proposal would mean for children. So,
we're going to outline six big changes his bill would make to
the asylum system for Central American minors.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Trump Doesn't Like Traveling. That's Bad for Diplomacy. |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=BTDlIw3GsXP-pHyGZjCnUw

James H. Lebovic and Elizabeth N. Saunders

One of U.S. President Donald Trump's few consistent views is
that the United States must replace grand, multilateral bargains with
more favorable bilateral deals... But two years into Trump's
presidency, the results are underwhelming... It's not hard to
see why. Trump's bull-in-a-China-shop performances at
international summits... and his fixation on particular issues, such
as allies' defense spending, trade deficits, and European car
imports, at the expense of the bigger policy picture, drive home that
Trump is better at dismantling deals than making new ones. But
there's an even more basic problem with his diplomacy: Trump
does not put in the legwork. He travels abroad little, and the trips
he does make rarely end up achieving what he wants.

AP NEWS
Bolton's Test: Massaging Trump Tweets into Foreign Policy |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=JcLCbpduej3Hv3ihSdiIXA

Zeke Miller

In President Donald Trump's Washington, matters of war and peace
are decided in 280-character bursts. It's up to John Bolton to
massage them into a foreign policy. The mustachioed national security
adviser developed a reputation as a bureaucratic bulldozer through
more than three decades in and out of government. But the wrangling
over Trump's decision to pull troops out of Syria demanded a new
skill - the ability to dramatically redraft the
president's policy without provoking a hint of protest from the
commander in chief... Longtime associates credit Bolton with a keen
ability to manage-up to the president - a key differentiator
between Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, an Army general
whose professorial tones grated on Trump.


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