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The Weekly GAB Friday, October 20, 2017
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
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Top Quote

MSNBC
The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell |

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[Video]

"One of the tragedies of what we see going on now is that
diplomacy, generally, as one of the tools in the foreign policy
toolkit has been dramatically weakened. Not only by the things that
you mentioned, but by the decimation of the State Department, which
during my career I always regarded as one of the jewels and the crown
of American security. Now we've heard that from Secretary Mattis
as well," former Acting CIA Director John McLaughlin.

Who's in the News

NORTHJERSEY.COM
What Donald Trump Should Be Saying to the World

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Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), Chair, House Appropriations
Committee

However, if we are to protect and enhance our national security, we
need more than a military-heavy approach, and it is no secret that we
are not investing in the "soft power" of diplomacy. This
case in point is illustrated by the president's proposed 33
percent cut to the State Department's budget in his May 23
budget and additional talk of implementing "efficiencies"
and "consolidation" of departmental, operations and staff.
The House Appropriations Committee has attempted to moderate these
unwise proposals. We understand the administration's desire to
encourage more burden sharing by our allies. Assuming this effort is
bound to falter, we cannot afford unilateral diplomatic disarmament!
Ceding the field militarily, economically and diplomatically to China
or Russia or Iran today will only result in increased fiscal and
defense costs tomorrow.

THE DES MOINES REGISTER
Ending World Hunger Must Remain an American Priority

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Rev. David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World, and Michelle
Nunn, President & CEO of CARE USA

Between 1990 and 2015, the world hunger rate was cut in half. Ending
hunger is truly within our reach. However, a report released last
month by the United Nations gives us pause. The report, "State of Food
Security and Nutrition in the World," found that in 2016, the world
saw its first increase in the number of people experiencing hunger and
malnutrition in almost a decade a number now totaling 815 million
people. According to the report, this increase, fueled by conflict and
climate change, comes at a time when the Trump Administration and some
in Congress are calling for deep, unprecedented cuts to the U.S.
foreign assistance budget. If Congress approves these cuts, it could
be devastating and deadly to millions of women and children around the
world.

FINANCIAL TIMES
Bill and Melinda Gates on the Fight Against Global Inequality |
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Andrew Jack

Pointing to more generous budget proposals made by the US House and
the Senate, she and her husband are a little more positive than they
were at the start of this year. "Until it's all figured
out, we can't say that it's not going to happen,"
Bill Gates says, while adding: "I'd say the likelihood of
those cuts is fairly low right now." Trump himself has stressed
the value of several US-backed global health programmes launched by
his predecessors, notably the President's Emergency Plan for
Aids Relief and the President's Malaria Initiative. His own
draft budget singled out for continued support two multilateral bodies
distributing donor aid: the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis
and Malaria, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

POLITICO MAGAZINE
Take the President's Finger Off the Nuclear Button

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Dan Glickman, former Secretary of Agriculture

It's past time to re-examine the War Powers Act and the role of
Congress, the president and war-making in the modern era, particularly
when it comes to nuclear weapons. I recognize that in war, sometimes
quick decisions are necessary and lengthy consultation isn't
possible. But at the same time, the present system violates a basic
principle of self-governing democracy: The American people's
right to have a say in whether to go to war. I'm confident we
can still protect the president's ability to act decisively when
necessary, but otherwise provide robust congressional and military
oversight to the process by which a nuclear attack is triggered.

Development & Diplomacy

THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE
Rex Tillerson and the Unraveling of the State Department |

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Jason Zengerle

Although Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have already
declared Trump's State Department cuts a nonstarter - and,
in September, passed an appropriations bill that funded the department
for the next three months at about last year's level -
Tillerson still intends to slash the department's staff by 8
percent, or roughly 2,000 people...the cuts he has planned some State
Department veterans fear, will cripple the department for years to
come, especially as the lower and midlevel ranks of the department are
reduced. "You can't have captains if you don't have
lieutenants," a senior State Department official says.
"You can't have majors if you don't have
captains." But even if Tillerson leaves, the fear among many in
the State Department is that the hangover from his tenure will be
long-lasting.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

'Please Bring My Son Back': Anguished Somali Families
Mourn |

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Abdi Guled

Anguished families gathered across Somalia's capital on Tuesday
as funerals continued for the more than 300 people killed in one of
the world's deadliest attacks in years. With nearly 400 people
wounded, with some burned beyond recognition, international aid
continued to arrive to help overwhelmed hospitals. A United States
military plane landed in Mogadishu Tuesday with medical and
humanitarian aid supplies. Dozens of critically injured have been
airlifted to Turkey for treatment. A medical team from Djibouti
arrived for more evacuations. Kenya said it would evacuate 31 injured
people and sent 11 tons of medical supplies.

CQ ROLL CALL
Corker Hammers Shipping Interests on Food for Peace Program |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=sS_GLegt02IT2atTwryjwA

Rachel Oswald

With multiple crises leaving millions of people in Africa and the
Middle East at risk for starvation, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman
Bob Corker, argues that the time has come to demand long-sought
reforms to the U.S. Food for Peace program in next year's farm
bill. "Because of these ridiculous, utterly ridiculous
requirements, only 35 to 40 cents of each dollar is used to provide
food to people who are starving," the Tennessee Republican said
at a Thursday committee hearing he convened to discuss modernizing the
Food for Peace program. "There are few areas of government where
we can have more impact on lives without additional resources than by
modernizing the Food for Peace program."

DEVEX
USAID Chief Outlines Vision for Agriculture, Food Security |

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Adva Saldinger

Green is drawn to Feed the Future because it's driven by the
private sector, which is in line with his priorities to have USAID
work more closely, but also differently, with companies moving
forward. To that end, Green announced two new private sector
collaborations in his speech. USAID will work with the Syngenta
Foundation to get "state of the art" seed varieties to
smallholder farmers in Africa. The partnership will help local African
agribusinesses secure access to high quality seeds so they can sell
them at affordable prices...Green also announced a collaboration with
Keurig Green Mountain and Root Capital to support small scale coffee
farmers get greater access to credit, learn new business concepts and
strategic planning, and connect to markets.

BROOKINGS

International Affairs Experts Reach Consensus on How to Restructure
Foreign Aid |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=FWTXW0kUQ7lJNwKsAjnrsQ

George Ingram

While Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has recently acknowledged the
important and unique roles of agencies like the State Department and
the U.S. Agency for International Development, the
administration's call for radical reforms remains threatening.
These include the proposed 30 percent reduction in funding for
international affairs, reports of merging USAID into the Department of
State, arbitrary cuts in staffing, and an Office of Management and
Budget directive to all agencies that required reorganization plans by
September to increase agency efficiency and reduce staff levels.

Politics & Foreign Policy

FOREIGN POLICY
Amid Chaos in Trump White House, Diplomats Turn to Pence |

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Emily Tamkin

But it isn't just abroad that some diplomats find Pence more
accessible and knowledgeable than Trump. As diplomats settle into the
idea that Trump will stay unpredictable, some in Washington are
turning to the office of Vice President Pence. FP spoke and
corresponded with a dozen diplomats based in Washington, D.C., and
found a consistent theme: Pence's office was often the go-to
place for some foreign governments hoping to get their message across
to the administration. Pence's staff, though small, has for some
diplomats even eclipsed that at the State Department, whose head, Rex
Tillerson, has an increasingly strained relationship with Trump.

THE WASHINGTON POST

George W. Bush Rebukes Trump's 'America First'
Foreign Policy |

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Josh Rogin

For the second time this week, a prominent Republican has made a
speech rebuking President Trump's vision for the United
States' role in the world. On Monday, it was Sen. John McCain
(R-Ariz.). Today, President George W. Bush joined the call for the
United States to reject the "America first" principle in
world affairs. The next step is to explain and persuade Americans that
greater American engagement and integration with the rest of the world
are the best ways to bolster the American economy and avoid future
wars. That's the fight McCain initiated on Monday and that Bush
joined today.

THE ATLANTIC
China Is Quietly Reshaping the World |

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Anja Manuel

China is quickly growing into the world's most extensive
commercial empire. By way of comparison, after World War II, the
Marshall Plan provided the equivalent of $800 billion in
reconstruction funds to Europe (if calculated as a percentage of
today's GDP). In the decades after the war the United States was
also the world's largest trading nation, and its largest
bilateral lender to others. Now it's China's turn. The
scale and scope of the Belt and Road initiative is staggering.
Estimates vary, but over $300 billion have already been spent, and
China plans to spend $1 trillion more in the next decade or so. Unlike
the United States and Europe, China uses aid, trade, and foreign
direct investment strategically to build goodwill, expand its
political sway, and secure the natural resources it needs to grow.

THE WASHINGTON POST

Longtime Foes on Foreign Policy, McCain and Biden Form Alliance
Against Trumpism |

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Paul Kane

John McCain and Joe Biden have been on opposite sides of many crucial
national security debates over the past 30 years. On Monday night, in
the cradle of liberty, those disputes disappeared as Biden presented
the Liberty Medal to McCain at the National Constitution Center...No
longer was the divide between those who wanted to engage the world
through brute force and those pushing for more diplomacy. Now, McCain
and Biden are on the same side, battling the isolationism that Trump
has avowed and that has been most clearly articulated by his onetime
chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon. From Iraq to Afghanistan to
Syria, the Arizona Republican and the Delaware Democrat clashed over
the scope of the American military mission and the efficacy of
reaching for diplomatic resolutions for these war-torn nations.

BLOOMBERG
Tillerson Seeks Closer U.S.-India Ties to Bolster Stability |

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Nick Wadhams

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson laid out the Trump
administration's vision for the U.S. role in South Asia, arguing
for greater U.S. economic influence and military ties and praising an
"emerging Delhi-Washington strategic partnership" as an
anchor for stability. Tillerson's speech on Wednesday, a rare
policy address for America's top diplomat since he took office
more than eight months ago, was in keeping with a broader shift on
South Asia under which the U.S. intends to seek India's help
more often as a partner in Afghanistan.


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