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The Weekly GAB Friday, March 9, 2018
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
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USGLC in the News

ABC NEWS

Tillerson Fights Negative Perceptions, Chinese Influence, Terrorism in
First Trip to Afric |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Q2KpBX0kJ1YS4KI6ATbtfA

Conor Finnegan

Working together will also be difficult because of the big proposed
cuts to the State Department and U.S. Agency for International
Development, or USAID. The administration's FY2019 budget proposal in
February called for a 37% cut to programs in Africa, down $3.1 billion
from current levels, according to the U.S. Global Leadership
Coalition, a bipartisan nonprofit that advocates for diplomacy.
Tillerson did announce a new aid package Tuesday...That brings the
total U.S. aid to $3 billion for the food crises there since the
beginning of FY 2017. The problem is that that pales in comparison to
China...China became Africa's largest trading partner in 2009, and
during the 2000's, China's export-import bank loaned Africa roughly
$67 billion.

Who's in the News

THE NEW YORK TIMES
America Should Lead in Saving the Rohingya

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=FXNRqoMjOv1vdeDuFgPzWw

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Angelina Jolie, filmaker and co-founder
of the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative

Around the world, there is profound concern that America is giving up
the mantle of global leadership. Our steady retreat over the past
decade has contributed to a wide array of complex global challenges
- a dangerous erosion of the rule of law, gross human rights
violations and the decline of the rules-based international order that
was designed in the aftermath of two world wars to prevent conflict
and deter mass atrocities....Sadly, we are seeing now this same lack
of effective diplomacy in Myanmar...We need to show...resolve now to
stop the violence and safeguard the rights and freedoms of all Burmese
peoples. The United States should take the lead in four ways, and ask
our partners and allies to join us.

QZ
When Money Flows Into the Hands of Women, Everything Changes

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=S3XW3Rr8ZzKmC-Sf3YuE_g

Melinda Gates, Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

We've been investing in women's health for a long time and
seen significant progress. But as I spend more time visiting
communities and meeting people around the world, I am convinced that
we'll never reach our goals if we don't also address the
systematic way that women and girls are undervalued. With a new focus
on women's economic empowerment, connecting women to markets,
making sure they have access to financial services, and empowering
them to help themselves, we aim to help tear down the barriers that
keep half the world from leading a full life.

THE WASHINGTON POST
Why I Could No Longer Serve This President

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=_Vc0qVhBlYYaYF2YLBKTLw

John D. Feeley, former U.S. Ambassador to Panama

Leaking a sitting ambassador's personal resignation letter to
the president, as mine was...Was a painful indication that the current
administration has little respect for those who have served the nation
apolitically for decades. Now that I am no longer oath-bound to
support the president and his policies, several points warrant
clarification. I did not resign over any policy decisions regarding my
remit in Panama, or - as was incorrectly alleged in the media
- due to the president's denigrating comments about
countries that participate in the visa diversity lottery. I resigned
because the traditional core values of the United States, as
manifested in the president's National Security Strategy and his
foreign policies, have been warped and betrayed. I could no longer
represent him personally and remain faithful to my beliefs about what
makes America truly great.

Development & Diplomacy

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Seeking to Heal a Rift, Tillerson Pledges New Aid to Africa |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=BD4mNjOOSQZGiNYYHGNL5g

Gardiner Harris and Dionne Searcey

Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson sought to mend fences with Africa
on Tuesday as he embarked on a five-nation tour across the continent,
promising $533 million in new aid...In a speech before leaving
Washington, Mr. Tillerson trumpeted American efforts to improve access
to electricity across Africa and provide critical drugs for millions
of people to treat H.I.V./AIDS. He did not mention, however, that the
Trump administration has proposed slashing funding for both programs,
along with other aid efforts seen as vital in Africa. Mr. Tillerson is
scheduled to visit Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Chad and Nigeria.

BLOOMBERG
Tillerson Faces a Tall Order in Africa |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=7mI6jgRdCzxPIZl36NHbqw

The Editorial Board

True, the U.S. remains the most generous provider of humanitarian
assistance to Africa -- and Tillerson announced more than $500 million
in additional aid for crisis-torn countries. Tillerson highlighted the
contributions of Power Africa, a USAID public-private initiative that
is bringing electricity to millions; PEPFAR, which has reduced deaths
and illnesses caused by HIV/AIDS; and the Young African Leaders
Initiative, which has given African entrepreneurs and civic leaders
the chance to study and train in the U.S. He didn't mention that the
administration's proposed 37 percent cut in Africa programs would hurt
all three.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

State Dept. Was Granted $120 Million to Fight Russian Meddling. It Has
Spent $0. |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=77uadpVKObEYNrw0Rh1dqQ

Gardiner Harris

As Russia's virtual war against the United States continues
unabated with the midterm elections approaching, the State Department
has yet to spend any of the $120 million it has been allocated since
late 2016 to counter foreign efforts to meddle in elections or sow
distrust in democracy. Mr. Tillerson is focusing his energies instead
on drastically shrinking the department, leaving a significant part of
its budget unused and hundreds of important decisions unmade. Last
year, the State Department spent just 79 percent of the money that
Congress had authorized for the conduct of foreign affairs, the lowest
such level in at least 15 years and well down from the 93 percent
spent in the final year of the Obama administration.

REUTERS

Aid Convoy Delivers Food in Syria's Besieged Ghouta Despite
Bombardment

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=m9MGVDVJ9eWIwiiP39UDiw

An emergency aid convoy crossed front lines into the besieged rebel
enclave of eastern Ghouta and delivered its supplies on Friday,
braving shellfire and air strikes in the area amid a fierce government
offensive. The 13 food trucks allowed into the town of Douma
subsequently returned to government-controlled territory, a Red Cross
official in Syria said, after a senior U.N. official said that the
bombardments had put the convoy in danger. The onslaught has killed
more than 1,000 people, the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres
(MSF) said on Thursday. The war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights, on Friday gave a death toll of 950 civilians in the
campaign.

FOREIGN POLICY
Trump Eyes Retired Diplomat for Top Africa Envoy Role |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=s1thjI8OPE8BNVuw7Gc1lw

Robbie Gramer

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration faces waves of
criticism for not properly staffing the State Department, where dozens
of senior posts sit empty. But as Rex Tillerson departs for his first
trip to Africa as secretary of state, Trump is eyeing appointing a
retired career diplomat to be next assistant secretary of state for
African affairs, four sources close to the administration and former
State Department officials tell Foreign Policy. Tibor Nagy, a retired
foreign service officer with over three decades of experience, is
expected to be nominated as assistant secretary of state for African
affairs as soon as this month, sources say.

DEVEX
Power Africa 2.0: A Look at the New Strategy |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=wzwqPajwq-i_J6zsYzysgw

Adva Saldinger

Power Africa 2.0, an updated strategy for the United States government
initiative focused on improving energy access in Africa, launched last
week. Administration officials describe the strategy as an evolution
of Power Africa's work, rather than a dramatic departure from
what it has done in the past. The strategy will ensure that Power
Africa continues to develop innovative ideas and enterprise-driven
approaches to help expand power opportunities, U.S. Agency for
International Development Administrator Mark Green said in a speech
announcing the update.

REUTERS
'Acts of Genocide' Suspected Against Rohingya in Myanmar: U.N. |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=rlBj47S8qkU0CYcv0kaNog

Stephanie Nebehay and Simon Lewis

The United Nations human rights chief said on Wednesday he strongly
suspected that "acts of genocide" may have taken place
against Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state
since August. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said in a speech to the U.N.
Human Rights Council that reports of bulldozing of alleged mass graves
showed a "deliberate attempt by the authorities to destroy
evidence of potential international crimes, including possible crimes
against humanity." The United Nations defines genocide as acts
meant to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group in
whole or in part.

Politics & Foreign Policy

THE NEW YORK TIMES
North Korea Asks for Direct Nuclear Talks, and Trump Agrees |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=UBejbhSECJHrm1gHNO0hMg

Mark Landler

North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, has invited President Trump
to meet for negotiations over its nuclear program, an audacious
diplomatic overture that would bring together two strong-willed,
idiosyncratic leaders who have traded threats of war. The White House
said that Mr. Trump had accepted the invitation, and Chung Eui-yong, a
South Korean official who conveyed it, told reporters that the
president would meet with Mr. Kim within two months. No sitting
American president has ever met a North Korean leader...Meeting Mr.
Kim now, rather than at the end of a negotiation when the United
States would presumably have extracted concessions from North Korea,
is an enormous gesture by the president. But Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim
share a penchant for bold, dramatic moves, and their personal
participation in a negotiation could take it in unexpected directions.

THE WASHINGTON POST
Trump's North Korea Gambit Blindsides U.S. Diplomats |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=S1vq48SVgjkR4F3FeBv_DA

Paul Sonne and John Hudson

President Trump's high-wire gambit to accept a meeting with
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sets off a scramble among U.S.
officials to assemble a team capable of supporting a historic summit
of longtime adversaries and determine a viable engagement strategy.
The apparent lack of coordination marked a pattern of mixed messaging
that has characterized the Trump administration's North Korea
diplomacy since Pyongyang launched its first intercontinental
ballistic missile last year, sparking the Trump White House's
biggest national security crisis to date.

FINANCIAL TIMES
China's Diplomacy Budget Doubles Under Xi Jinping |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=sC2w5VjAuD6Hqz_Sfe22bg

Charles Clover and Sherry Fei Ju

China's government has doubled the amount it spends on diplomacy
during the five years of President Xi Jinping's rule, with
another hefty increase announced this week aimed at projecting its
soft power throughout the world. The government's budget,
presented on Monday, forecast that Rmb60bn ($9.5bn) would be spent on
foreign affairs in 2018 - a 15 per cent increase on last year
and up from Rmb30bn in 2011, the year before Mr Xi assumed power. The
doubling of expenditures on foreign affairs under Mr Xi has tracked a
revolution in Chinese external policy, with Beijing becoming
increasingly assertive throughout the world.

FORTUNE

Congress Wants to Make It Easier for Corporations to Hide Corrupt
Overseas Deals

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=HQu9QsnR5BZXU8mIXNXqwQ

John Niepold, SQM Frontier Management, L.P., and Eric G. Postel,
former Associate Administrator, USAID

Transparency in the oil, gas, and mining industries is a win-win for
the U.S.-not only does it protect the interests of U.S.
investors, it promotes our foreign policy and global development goals
around the world. A bipartisan group of senators recognized this in
2010 when they included the Cardin-Lugar anti-corruption provision in
the Dodd Frank financial regulation law. This groundbreaking provision
sought to bring transparency to the billions of dollars in payments
made by U.S.-listed oil, gas, and mining companies to foreign
governments. And now, Congress is threatening to overturn the
anti-corruption provision itself.


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