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I have to admit, yesterday was a wild day when it comes to development
and diplomacy. It started with inspiring tales highlighting
International Women's Day all over social media - and
ended with the stunning diplomatic news that President Trump would
meet with Kim Jong Un of North Korea.


As I listen to pundits and policymakers trying to parcel the meaning
of the upcoming summit, it's clear that we're entering
high stakes negotiations. I just returned from a visit with former
Secretary of State George Shultz, who at 97-years-old is not only
sharp as a tack, but had some wise words about diplomacy - a
good primer for the days and weeks ahead.


Stay smart: The latest edition of the GLOBAL GAB in a slightly updated
format is down below - with everything from an issue that
President Trump and the Democrats actually agree on to a message from
Angelina Jolie and John McCain.


Lastly, I wanted to share my latest op-ed in TIME on the dangerous
cuts that directly threaten whether America will be able to stop the
next big pandemic - just one more troubling example of the
impact of cuts to international programs.
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=q1zGAwBZcMtWzeCLA1SSmw


Welcome your feedback and your thoughts on the latest diplomatic
tightrope.

Best,
Liz
Liz Schrayer, USGLC

THE GLOBAL GAB

March 9, 2018

1. Tillerson in Africa.

On his first trip to Africa as America's top diplomat,
Secretary of State Tillerson is halfway through his 7-day, 5-nation
mission to Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, Chad, and Nigeria.

* HUMANITARIAN BOOST. Before crossing the Atlantic, Tillerson
cited man-made conflicts driving "alarming levels of
hunger" and announced an additional $533 million to
"fight famine and food insecurity" in Somalia, South
Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Lake Chad Basin.
* THE CONTINENT. In his pre-departure speech, Tillerson stated,
"Our country's security and economic prosperity are linked
with Africa's like never before... This administration seeks
to deepen our partnership with Africa with an aim of making
African countries more resilient and more
self-sufficient." An important frame given the
president's controversial comments earlier this year.
* THE BACKSTORY. Reporters traveling with the U.S. delegation
- from ABC to Bloomberg to the NY Times - have been
quick to highlight the drastic 37% cut proposed in the
Administration's budget for U.S. assistance to Africa,
especially the cuts to PEPFAR and Power Africa. Also in the mix:
The critical State Department leadership vacancies and
ambassador posts for countries like Egypt and South Africa.
*
RISING COMPETITION. The other angle driving nearly all the
coverage of the trip: the rise of China. Here are 3 stats that
explain why:

* China has increased its development assistance to Africa
by 780% since 2003.
* China is Africa's single largest trading partner,
overtaking the U.S. in 2009.
* China's massive $1 trillion infrastructure program
- dubbed the "One Belt, One Road"
initiative - could reach seven times that of the
Marshall Plan in real dollars.

* AFRICOM COMMANDER. Testifying in Congress the same day that
Tillerson departed, the highest ranking commander for Africa,
General Thomas Waldhauser told lawmakers: "In reality,
very few of the challenges on the African continent can be
resolved through the use of military force. Accordingly,
AFRICOM's first strategic tenant underscores that our military
activities are designed to support and enable U.S. diplomatic
and development efforts."
* WHAT TO WATCH. Does Tillerson break outside the bubble of
official government meetings and visit an AIDS clinic,
children's nutrition center, or public-private partnership
to see a development program first-hand?

2. A win-win.

Democrats, Republicans, and Trump Agree, Oh My! It's hard to
believe that with all the partisan bomb-throwing in DC that at last
there seems to be an issue that they all agree on - and
it's on the development agenda.

* DEVELOPMENT FINANCE. New legislation, the BUILD Act, was
introduced in both chambers of Congress by Senators Corker and
Coons and Reps. Yoho and Smith last week - with strong
support from the White House - that would effectively put
America's development finance agenda on steroids. While
there are still issues to work out, this is good news to
strengthen our development finance tool.
* WHY IT MATTERS. America is getting outcompeted on this critical
part of our economic development toolkit. Our economy is 7 times
that of the United Kingdom, yet the British proposed quadrupling
their development finance portfolio last year to double that of
America's current portfolio.
* BE SMART. As U.S. companies turn a profit and pay back their
loans with interest, the current U.S. development finance agency
- the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)
- has returned nearly $4 billion to the U.S. Treasury in
deficit reduction over the last 10 years. The new BUILD Act
would double America's total development finance portfolio
to $60 billion and streamline much of our development finance
efforts under a new standalone agency. Go deeper.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=lXVUTnIUMPtzrpa4bjB-Yw

* CHIEF PLAYER. The day before the legislation was introduced, Ray
Washburne - the current OPIC President and Texas business
leader - told a 100-strong USGLC crowd in Dallas that
development finance is "just about the best investment our
government can make to advance its economic, security and
foreign policy objectives" adding that it "not only
helps American and Texas-based companies succeed and prosper, it
drives economic growth and stability in some of the
world's poorest nations."

3. Is the world on fire?

From the Rohingyas fleeing Myanmar to new attacks in Syria -
some of the world's worst humanitarian crises are continuing to
spiral out of control.

* ANGELINA AND JOHN. "The U.S. must lead" said Senator
McCain and Angelina Jolie in the NY Times: "As the
humanitarian crises in Myanmar, Syria and elsewhere intensify,
the world is closely watching whether the United States will
reclaim the mantle of international leadership and take
action."
* HELL ON EARTH. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in recent
weeks in eastern Ghouta outside of Damascus, where an estimated
400,000 civilians are trapped amid some of the heaviest fighting
yet in the Syrian civil war. UN efforts to implement a 30-day
ceasefire have gone largely ignored, despite UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres' plea last month to "stop
this hell on earth."
* THIS HEMISPHERE. With Venezuela in an economic free fall and 75%
of the population reporting a 20-lbs weight loss due to lack of
food, 4 million Venezuelans have fled their country - just
shy of the estimated 5 million Syrian refugees.
* SOUTH SUDAN. With more than six million people facing extreme
hunger, the number of people on the brink of famine is up by
more than 40% from a year ago. So far, the UN's
humanitarian response for South Sudan has received less than 4%
of requested funding for 2018.

4. Chatter.

* OVAL OFFICE. President Trump marked International Women's
Day by giving a nod to OPIC's 2X women's
entrepreneurship initiative, USAID's WomenConnect
Challenge, and the new Women, Peace and Security Act, stating,
"We seek to empower women of all backgrounds to achieve
their economic potential and shape our world."
* NIKKI HALEY. America's UN Ambassador told the AIPAC Policy
Conference on Monday night: "UN votes should never be the
only factor in our foreign aid decisions. We have many interests
that go beyond the UN, but they should be one of the factors.
And we are determined to start making that connection."
See her profile today in Foreign Policy Magazine.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Q59Qmpt7k78KXpvI9dfdtw

* SECRETARY SHULTZ. At an event hosted by the USGLC, former
Secretary of State George Shultz, a member of our Advisory
Council told a Northern California group of entrepreneurs,
impact investors, and philanthropists his concerns about losing
the "best of the best" at the State Department.
Check out the photos.
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=2jhiMpKEX23qDuCaKTkIAQ

* NEXT FOREIGN RELATIONS CHAIR? With Senator Corker re-confirming
his plan to retire, the next likely chairman of the Foreign
Relations Committee recently - Senator Risch - sat
down for a POLITICO podcast and downplayed the hollowing out of
the State Department: "Things are not a whole lot
different when there's an ambassador there."
Hopefully, Senator Risch will see it differently as Chair.
* COMBAT PILOT. An Army helicopter pilot in Iraq, Senator Tammy
Duckworth told a USGLC national security forum in Chicago:
"The cornerstone of American security has long been our
military dominance. However, it is arguably the other side of
American power - the side based on our economic might,
diplomatic engagement, global development efforts, and cultural
exchanges - that has a more profound, positive, and
lasting effect around the world."
* FOOD SECURITY CHAMPIONS. With Congress set to reauthorize the
farm bill later this year, Senators Corker and Coons teamed up
with the Farm Bureau Federation to make the case in The
Tennessean that we can modernize the Food for Peace program to
"

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=IgqAlvdXhWBVi-fnAH9Avw

feed nine million more starving people each year" without
"removing the mission-critical role of American
farmers."
* 60 MINUTES. Sitting down with Margaret Brennan, Secretary
Tillerson was adamant that "there's been no
dismantling at all of the State Department." When asked
about the 41 embassies without confirmed ambassadors, Tillerson
assured viewers that "we've got terrific people, both
foreign service officers, civil servants, that have stepped into
those roles around the world." Tillerson will be
testifying later this month and expect some strong pushback from
Capitol Hill.

5. Rallying the troops.

On the budget front, the chorus of opposition is growing louder
against the Administration's proposed cuts of 30% to the State
Department and USAID along with the 1,200+ veterans and 150+ retired
generals and admirals that have already weighed-in rejecting the
dangerous proposal:

* THE BISHOPS. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote that
the Administration's budget plan "again calls for
deep cuts to vital parts of government, including underfunding
programs that serve the poor, diplomacy, and environment
stewardship."
* SUPREME COMMANDER. Asked in Congress this week how cuts to
diplomacy would affect his mission, the NATO chief, U.S. Army
General Curtis Scaparrotti, said his objective in each country
"is to support the Ambassador and the Ambassador's
country teams... So a reduction of their abilities would not be
positive."
* MINISTER OF DEFENSE. At the Munich Security Conference,
Germany's defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen, declared
a "point of concern... that some of our partners
continue to roll back spending on diplomacy, international aid
and the United Nations" - indirectly calling out the
U.S. Administration.
* CHAIRMAN GRAHAM. The senior from South Carolina writes in the
Foreign Service Journal that "weakened U.S. influence and
soft power will most certainly translate into heightened global
and regional insecurity."
* THE RANKING MEMBER. House Appropriations leader Nita Lowey
spares no punches in her latest op-ed decrying the
"crippling [of] our diplomatic and development
capabilities."

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=2p9xuz6Hn12nKJOW8w3-2w

* MARCO RUBIO. On the AIPAC main stage this week, the Florida
Senator said: "International assistance is less than 1% of
our overall budget. It is not charity. It is a direct investment
in national security... and frankly it saves us money in the
long term."
* HOUSE MEMO. Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats penned a letter
urging their colleagues on the Budget Committee to reject
"cuts to the international affairs budget in Fiscal Years
2018 and 2019."
* ORLANDO OPINION. America cannot "sit on the sidelines in
the 21st century global economy as China eagerly steps up to the
plate" write Dick Batchelor, former Florida state house
member, and Tico Perez, former National Commissioner of the Boy
Scouts of America in the Orlando Sentinel.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=ar3wWwxxP8AduXRZA3VBQA

6. In case you missed it...

* GLOBAL OPIOID FIGHT. Working together, the U.S. and the United
Nations - along with some help from satellite imagery
- are helping lead the fight against opioid production,
says Jordie Hannum from the Better World Campaign.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=-T7zSDkXt_k1-uT6kX7naw

* A MYSTERY CONTINUES. Answers remain elusive for the two-dozen
American diplomats impacted by mysterious "health
attacks" in Cuba in late 2016. A recently-released report
in the Journal of the American Medical Association determined
that without further evidence, doctors are unable to determine
the cause of their hearing, vision, balance, and cognitive
issues.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=7KT4oYFLnmR9nOtlr-W7Bg

* CLOSE CALL. The U.S. Embassy in Montenegro narrowly avoided a
tragedy in late February after a grenade was thrown over the
embassy's wall. No embassy personnel were harmed and the
perpetrator was found dead as a result of another explosive some
100 feet away.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=g2Dhq4huh2QIwW6i3ojBNw

7. Three good news stories.

* DIPLOMACY WORKS. 77% of millennials consider diplomacy the
"better way to ensure peace" reports a new Pew
Research poll.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=RPZqih9ByhI7VJOYuiMozw

* A HISTORIC TRANSITION. Just last month, Liberia held its first
peaceful transition of power since 1944 - a remarkable
milestone that USAID helped make possible.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=s8-_Hy4E6qnQPWz2wDrFbQ

Outgoing president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf - the first woman
head of state to be elected democratically in Africa - was
awarded the $5 million Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African
Leadership after seeing her country through the Ebola epidemic
and post-war recovery.
* POWER COUPLE. In their Foundation's tenth annual letter,
Bill and Melinda Gates remind us that despite the challenges we
face, "
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=UHElMFwYfu0Ir6hh4dmpKg

the number of child deaths is likely to keep going down"
plus "the rate of innovation in child health is
extraordinary, and the world is starting to make progress on
some of the most stubborn challenges in the field." Must
read.


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