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The Weekly GAB Friday, February 12, 2016
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org

USGLC Budget Analysis

USGLC REPORT
International Affairs Budget Proposal Slightly Down: Growing Concern Over U.S. Ability to Keep Pace with Global Challenges<http://www.usglc.org/downloads/budget/USGLC-Budget-Analysis-FY2017.pdf>
Given the increasingly complex world we are facing, the downward trajectory of the International Affairs Budget exposes the danger our nation faces by not keeping pace with the growing global challenges. We urge Congress to support no less than the Administration's requested funding level for the International Affairs Budget.

MEDIUM
Is Our Budget Keeping Up With a Dangerous World? 6 Takeaways From the FY17 Budget Request<https://medium.com/@LizSchrayer/is-our-budget-keeping-up-with-a-dangerous-world-6-takeaways-from-the-fy17-budget-request-5c63584e2826#.20vhnfrp1>
Liz Schrayer, President & CEO of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition
With all eyes on New Hampshire today and the 2016 presidential horserace, it's pretty easy to miss a relatively wonky, but actually important moment in Washington: the kickoff to the budget season with the Administration's release of its proposal to Congress. What's consequential is that regardless of who wins the presidential race, this budget is the one the next president will inherit for the first year in office. What struck me as I read through the budget is the disconnect between the funding levels and our nation's ability to keep pace with the growing global challenges. And to be honest, I am concerned.

DEVEX
Top Takeaways from Obama's 2017 Budget Request<https://www.devex.com/news/top-takeaways-from-obama-s-2017-budget-request-87729> | Michael Igoe
The top-line number includes $39.3 billion in base funding and $14.9 billion in Overseas Contingency Operations funding -- a special account associated with the global war on terror. Once again the foreign affairs budget's reliance on OCO funds has some aid watchers nervous. What some call an overreliance on OCO money could leave ongoing U.S. assistance programs vulnerable. As the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition pointed out, OCO funding has grown from 9 to 28 percent of the foreign affairs budget over the last six years.

Top Quote This Week

MEDIUM
The Budget Message of the President<https://medium.com/@PresidentObama/the-budget-message-of-the-president-e5e01b93948d#.wv7sei7ox>
President Barack Obama
"To ensure security at home, we must also demonstrate leadership around the world. Strong leadership means not only a wise application of military power, but also rallying other nations behind causes that are right. It means viewing our diplomacy and development efforts around the world as an essential instrument of our national security strategy, and mobilizing the private sector and other donors alongside our foreign assistance to help achieve our global development and climate priorities. The Budget supports this vision with funding for effective global health programs to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other illnesses; assistance for displaced persons and refugees, including from Syria; and expanding educational opportunities for girls, among many other critical development initiatives."

Campaign 2016

POLITICO
Hey, Candidates: Don't Forget About Africa<http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2016/02/candidates-dont-forget-about-africa-000042>
Jean-Claude Masangu Mulongo, former president of the G24
As Obama prepares for the free selection of his successor, the candidates to replace him should speak up for the principles and practices that promote political stability, economic prosperity and international security. Take it from this Congolese banker who learned to love America while studying in U.S. colleges and working at U.S. companies: Democracy works. The rule of law works. Free enterprise and smart public and private investments work.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Foreign Policy Questions Push Bernie Sanders Out of Comfort Zone<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/09/us/politics/foreign-policy-questions-push-bernie-sanders-out-of-comfort-zone.html?_r=0> | David Sanger
The pattern even has some of his friends wondering aloud why he has not bothered to prepare stock answers about basic national security issues. While Mr. Sanders had no idea months ago that he would be doing so well in the polls, he knew he would be running against a former secretary of state. As the United States is battling the Islamic State and coping with an aggressive Russia and an economically weakening China, he has steadfastly refused to say much about America's place in the world.

THE HILL
Rubio Goes After Trump, Bush on Foreign Policy<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/269039-rubio-goes-after-trump-bush-on-foreign-policy> | Jonathan Easley
Rubio said he's not sure whether Trump, who just posted a resounding victory at the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday night, has the temperament to be president...Rubio also went after Bush, who finished slightly ahead of him in New Hampshire, saying that the former Florida governor has been out of the political arena so long that the world has passed him by. "The fact of the matter is Jeb has no foreign policy experience," Rubio said.

Who's in the News

THE HUFFINGTON POST
Nation Building the Right Way<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jack-leslie/nation-building-the-right_b_9144118.html>
Jack Leslie, Chairman of Weber Shandwick
In a few months, the Colombian government is expected to sign a peace agreement with the FARC, the large guerrilla, drug trafficking and terrorism organization that once controlled vast swaths of the country and inflicted enormous violence on Colombia for five decades. The peace agreement has its roots in Plan Colombia, a plan developed by the U.S. and Colombian governments in 1999 during a particularly violent period in Colombia's history. The goal was to strengthen Colombia's security forces to take on the drug trafficking organizations that were crippling the country and responsible for most of the illegal drugs flooding the United States.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
Progress in the Global War on Poverty<http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2016/0207/Progress-in-the-global-war-on-poverty>
Steven Radeletis Chair in Global Human Development at Georgetown University and a fellow at the Brookings Institution
Global poverty has fallen faster during the past 20 years than at any time in history. Around the world hunger, child death, and disease rates have all plummeted. More girls are getting into school. In fact, never before have so many people, in so many poor countries, made so much progress in reducing poverty, increasing incomes, improving health, reducing conflict and war, and spreading democracy. Some of these gains especially the declines in poverty and child mortality rank among the greatest achievements in history.

THE WASHINGTON POST
Is Africa Paving a Road Out of Poverty?<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/02/07/is-africa-paving-a-road-out-of-poverty/>
Robert Mattes, director of the Democracy in Africa Research Unit; Boniface Dulani, Afrobarometer's operations manager for fieldwork; and E. Gyimah-Boadi, executive director of Afrobarometer and the Center for Democratic Development
In 33 countries in 2014-2015, Afrobarometer reports that in two-thirds of those countries, "lived poverty" has decreased compared to the previous survey round in 2011-2013. That means fewer people are going without life's basic necessities they now have enough food to eat, clean water, access to needed medicines or medical care, enough fuel for cooking and a cash income. This is good news for Africa and, importantly, for Africans. The continent's decade of economic growth is well documented through official indicators, but until now, there's been little evidence that this growth was translating into better lives.

THE HILL
Negotiation Is Not Weakness<http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/the-administration/269178-negotiation-is-not-weakness>
Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.)
Negotiation and careful opening to foes on areas of mutual interest works. It worked for Nixon in China, for Reagan in the Soviet Union and may very well work for Obama in Iran and Cuba. Far from signaling weakness, negotiation succeeds precisely because we are strong militarily, through leadership of the international community and because of the appeal of our core values...Obviously, the U.S. continues to have profound influence on events abroad. We can, at least in the short term, achieve any purely military goal. But we must get over the notion that if we are just smart or strong enough, or our president "tough" enough, unruly regions around the world will settle into peace and prosperity.


Politics & Foreign Policy

THE NEW YORK TIMES
US and Russia Announce Plan for Humanitarian Aid and a Cease-Fire in Syria<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/world/middleeast/us-and-russia-announce-plan-for-humanitarian-aid-and-a-cease-fire-in-syria.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0>| David Sanger
"We have agreed to implement a nationwide cessation of hostilities in one week's time," Mr. Kerry said early Friday morning, after all-day meetings. If executed, the agreement, forged by the International Syria Support Group, would mark the first sustained and formally declared halt to fighting in Syria since the civil war began in 2011, early in the Arab uprisings. But even a formal cease-fire would be partial -- it excludes the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, and the Nusra Front, both designated as terrorist organizations by the United Nations -- and highly fragile.

THE ATLANTIC
The White House's Plan for Zika<http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/02/white-house-zika-virus/461886/> | Nora Kelly
A little less than half of the $1.8 billion is slated to fund the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's efforts to combat Zika. Those initiatives include creating "rapid response teams" to curb possible Zika "clusters" in the United States, investigating the connection between Zika and a birth defect called microcephaly, and improving diagnostic capabilities, according to an administration fact sheet. Funding would also go to the National Institutes of Health, for vaccine research; to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, for pregnant women and babies with microcephaly in Puerto Rico; and to the State Department and USAID, whose efforts largely focus on affected countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

VOICE OF AMERICA
US Gives Less Foreign Aid Than Americans Think<http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/us-gives-less-foreign-aid-than-americans-think/3172204.html> | Bruce Alpert
The United States will spend $37.9 billion on foreign aid in 2016. That is about $2 billion more than 2014. But it still amounts to less than 1 percent of the U.S. government's $4 trillion budget. Most Americans believe the percentage is far greater. The Kaiser Family Foundation last year asked 1,500 Americans what portion of the federal budget goes to foreign aid. The average answer was 25 percent, Kaiser said. That is 25 times the correct percentage.

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