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The Weekly GAB Friday, October 19, 2018
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
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Who's in the News

FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Confronting Iran

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

Michael R. Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State

Iran's actions have made the country a pariah, much to the
despair of its own people... We do not seek war. But we must make
painfully clear that escalation is a losing proposition for Iran; the
Islamic Republic cannot match the United States' military
prowess, and we are not afraid to let Iran's leaders know it...
President Trump's actions in confronting outlaw regimes stem
from the belief that moral confrontation leads to diplomatic
conciliation... At the rate that the Iranian economy is declining and
protests are intensifying, it should be clear to the Iranian
leadership that negotiations are the best way forward.

DEVEX
Bill Gates to Europe: 'Stay Generous' on Aid to Stop US Cuts |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=N4T5n2vhE5fyv3nbkVY0dQ

Vince Chadwick

Bill Gates entered the debate over the European Union's next
seven-year budget Wednesday, telling a packed meeting of the European
Parliament's development committee that maintaining high levels
of EU aid would prevent budget cuts in Washington. "In terms of
U.S. foreign aid, as long as Europe stays generous, I believe there is
a bipartisan consensus where the U.S. overall it may cut a few things,
but the overall level I believe will be maintained," Gates told
European parliamentarians, researchers and aid advocates in Brussels.
"The [U.S.] Congress has a longer timeframe, what I would call a
more responsible view of cooperation, than the current executive
branch position."

FOX NEWS

It's Time to Rethink America's Relationship with Saudi Arabia -- It Is
Not Our Friend

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=vExkdqWNSwl7xMj6WSh2pA

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)

It's time to rethink America's relationship with the Saudi
Kingdom... The killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi
is many things, including brutal and terrifying to those who report on
the Saudis. What it also should be, in light of what it exposes about
the Saudi regime, is a turning point in our relationship, where we as
Americans stop and ask ourselves what we have been propping up and
supporting... It isn't enough to talk tough and then give the
Saudis what they want. We have to force their hand into real reforms,
internally and abroad. With the outrage caused by their recent
actions, now is the time for bipartisan corrective action.

Development & Diplomacy

THE HILL
Development Is the Ultimate Deterrent to Excessive Migration

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=7NUF3J5pUKESy1-uY6kOaQ

Rachel Schmidtke, Mexico Institute, the Wilson Center

On Oct. 4, Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO)
and President Trump had a phone call discussing an investment plan
between Mexico, Canada and the United States to aid economic
development in Central America and Mexico, with the aim to reduce the
flows of illegal migration... There were predictions that Mexico and
the U.S. could be on the way to serious conflict in their approach to
migration; the Trump administration has implemented strict immigration
policies that the Mexican leader has often condemned... Yet, if both
countries were able to invest in the region, they may see some
surprising returns that could be more effective than the border
enforcement deterrence and deportation strategy.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Trump Embraces Foreign Aid to Counter China's Global Influence |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=JmVmr7b7htB4KStYi6jyeA

Glenn Thrush

President Trump, seeking to counter China's growing geopolitical
influence, is embracing a major expansion of foreign aid that will
bankroll infrastructure projects in Africa, Asia and the Americas
- throwing his support behind an initiative he once sought to
scuttle. With little fanfare, Mr. Trump signed a bill a little over a
week ago that created a new foreign aid agency - the United
States International Development Finance Corporation - and gave
it authority to provide $60 billion in loans, loan guarantees and
insurance to companies willing to do business in developing nations...
"I've changed, and I think he's changed, and it is
all about China," said Representative Ted Yoho, Republican of
Florida, who helped sell the plan to other conservative Republicans in
the House Freedom Caucus, which has historically opposed foreign aid
programs.

THE HILL
When International Development Met 'America First'

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=vxi0Ij7SFYj2rw7HTofhrg

Erik Pederson, Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Despite the deep divisions and partisanship in Washington,
agricultural development - teaching poor, small-scale farmers
overseas better ways to produce more nutritious food - holds
unique bipartisan support. This current Congress just demonstrated
bipartisanship by passing a five-year authorization of the Global Food
Security Act, and they are to be commended for overcoming
partisanship... If we are to retain our spot as a global leader and
feed the additional billions of people on the planet in another 70
years, we will look back and say it was in part because Congress rose
above divisive partisanship and took leadership on foreign policy and
the Global Food Security Act.

FOREIGN POLICY
Welcome to the First War Zone Ebola Crisis |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=QjXiV6_FjbKph1Cw-A0LqQ

Laurie Garrett

The signs of a coming Ebola crisis are mounting. The disease is
spreading rapidly in a region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
where health care workers have been facing unprecedented violent
attacks, both by insurgent militants and anxious locals. Nevertheless,
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
made the confounding announcement on Wednesday that he will not
declare the outbreak a "public health emergency of international
concern." ... The view from the United States is different. Last
week, the U.S. State Department deemed the security situation on the
ground in the outbreak so dangerous that teams of U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention experts were pulled back more than
1,000 miles away to the Congolese capital of Kinshasa.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Kenyans Say Chinese Investment Brings Racism and Discrimination |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=uqWB0Pt8Oc3mq40xyMo1sA

Joseph Goldstein

Before last year, Richard Ochieng', 26, could not recall
experiencing racism firsthand... But then his new boss, a Chinese man
his own age, started calling him a monkey... As the country embraces
China's expanding presence in the region, many Kenyans wonder
whether the nation has unwittingly welcomed an influx of powerful
foreigners who are shaping the country's future - while
also bringing racist attitudes with them. It is a wrenching question
for the nation, and one that many Kenyans, especially younger ones,
did not expect to be confronting in the 21st century.

USGLC GLOBAL IMPACT BLOG
Two Podcasts for the Diplomat in All of Us |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=AHLIWrK44NpKloXiM4TX4g

Matthew Wright

As Americans continue to debate the cost and importance of our
country's participation on the world stage, it is more important
than ever to understand just what the men and women of the U.S. State
Department really do. Thankfully, two new podcast series The General
and the Ambassador: A Conversation and American Diplomat: Real Stories
Behind the News offer listeners an inside look into how
America's diplomats advance and defend U.S. interests around the
world.

Politics & Foreign Policy

AP NEWS
Saudi Arabia, Turkey Have No US Ambassadors Amid Crisis |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=aSoxJYxrPXV_zj4yUJTpPw

Matthew Lee

The disappearance of journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi
after visiting a Saudi consulate in Turkey has thrown the large number
of diplomatic vacancies under President Donald Trump into the
spotlight - notably in Turkey and Saudi Arabia. It's a gap
the administration says it has been trying to fix but with limited
success. Khashoggi's case and the fact that there are no
American ambassadors in either Ankara or Riyadh have prompted concerns
about dozens of unfilled senior State Department positions almost two
years into Trump's presidency. And, those concerns have sparked
an increasingly bitter battle with Congress over who is to blame.

THE WASHINGTON POST

Pompeo Meets with Mexican Officials as a Migrant Caravan Inches North
|

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=6nknw4Lv9CYM1V2CMFC9mA

Kevin Sieff

As a caravan of thousands of Central American migrants inched closer
to Mexico's southern border, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
began a day of meetings here, devoted in part to how those migrants
could be stopped before reaching the United States... Mexican
authorities, in search of a way to satisfy President Trump's
demands to deter the migrants without appearing to violate
international law, have asked the United Nations to set up a migrant
processing center near its southern border. In a statement, Pompeo
said he welcomed that plan... But as Trump said at a rally on Thursday
that the midterm elections would hinge in part on the caravan, it was
clear that U.S. pressure on Mexico to stem the tide of the migrants
would continue.

CNN

Trump Is Threatening to Cut Foreign Aid Over the New Migrant Caravan.
Here's What's at Stake |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=kpQYJkllte_2_YYIhBEJEA

Catherine E. Shoichet

All told, US aid planned for Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and
Mexico in fiscal year 2019 adds up to nearly $260 million. That's
already notably less than amounts pledged in past years. And
threatening to cut aid even further is a high-profile way for the US
to wield its global influence. But putting foreign aid on the chopping
block actually could end up fueling more migration north, experts have
said, noting that people are increasingly likely to leave their home
countries if governments there lose funding for programs geared toward
stemming violence and creating economic opportunities.

THE WASHINGTON POST

'America First' Doesn't Work Without American Values
|

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=hX56SwezMojXuG89h75Wlg

Josh Rogin

Saudi Arabia's apparent killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
- and the Trump administration's haphazard response
- is an unmistakable sign that U.S. foreign policy has swung too
far away from its roots in promoting American values abroad.
Readjusting President Trump's "America First"
ideology to include the promotion of democratic values is needed to
prevent gross human-rights violations such as this, and to win the
greater struggle against the expansion of authoritarian influence
worldwide... It is becoming increasingly clear that a one-sided focus
on principles of realism, pragmatism and nonintervention are not
always the right way to advance U.S. interests and goals.

VOICE OF AMERICA

Caution, Cancellations, Protests as Concerns Grow on China's Belt and
Road |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=3jhKmtg3PAnC9GqctpRy1w

Bill Ide and Joyce Huang

Concerns about debt diplomacy on China's expansive infrastructure
megaproject - the Belt and Road - have become an
increasing source of debate from Asia to Africa and the Middle East.
In recent weeks, more than $30 billion in projects have been scrapped
and other loans and investments are under review. Public opposition is
also testing the resolve of ruling authorities from Hanoi to Lusaka,
the capital of Zambia, as concerns about Chinese investment build...
China says there are no political strings attached to its investments
and loans... But Beijing's takeover of a port in Sri Lanka last year
and the sheer volume of Chinese investments along the Belt and Road
project have done little to ease those concerns.

POLITICO

Xi Jinping, Donald Trump Agree to Talks at G-20 Summit Next Month,
Source Says |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=44AslLOXR8Oek-yITM_y4g

Zhou Xin

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump
have tentatively agreed to meet on the sidelines of the G-20
leaders' summit in Buenos Aires next month, according to a
source. An initial date has been set for Nov. 29, the day before the
summit formally gets under way, the person said on condition of
anonymity. If confirmed, it would be the first face-to-face meeting
between the two leaders in nearly a year and suggest both Washington
and Beijing were ready to deescalate the trade tensions... News of a
potential meeting between Xi and Trump comes amid growing hostilities
between U.S. and China on a range of issues other than the trade war,
including the South China Sea, Taiwan, Xinjiang and allegations of
espionage.

AP NEWS
Mattis to Meet Chinese Counterpart Amid US-China Tensions |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=PAde1vkGb4fo26-2nZEdfg

Robert Burns

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis plans to meet on Thursday in
Singapore with his Chinese counterpart amid escalating tensions over
China's purchase of Russian fighter planes and missiles as well
as ongoing friction in the South China Sea. Shortly after Mattis
arrived in Singapore on Wednesday after a visit to Vietnam, a senior
Mattis aide told reporters that the meeting is set to happen on
Thursday. It comes just weeks after their talks planned for Beijing
fell apart. Mattis and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe were in
Singapore for a regional meeting of defense ministers. Mattis visited
China in June, but since then a series of events have escalated
tensions.

THE EPOCH TIMES
US Concerned as China Makes Inroads in Central America |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=kpUAIFv4hSysjVOfBjv6Ig

Fernando Menendez

Tensions between China and the Trump administration are not only
evident in an escalating trade war. The standoff also appears to be
intensifying in Central America and the Caribbean, creating a new
wrinkle in a temperamental and volatile relationship. At a moment of
acutely strained relations with China, the United States sent strongly
worded messages of discontent to three Central American nations. All
have recently normalized their own relations with China...
China's practice of leveraging billions of dollars in debt to
obtain critical assets, economic dominance, and political influence in
Asia has alarmed a growing chorus of critics in the Americas as well.

HAARETZ

Canada Announces Up to $50 Million Aid to Palestinians Through UNRWA |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=C9F73M8pvUglIThgUFgXfA

Noa Landau

Canadian Minister of International Development Marie-Claude Bibeau
announced on Saturday that Canada will provide support of up to $50
million over two years for Palestinian refugees through the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near
East. Canada will also provide up to $12.5 million for Right to Play
International. According to a press release from the Global Affairs of
Canada, up to $40 million will contribute to meeting the basic
education, health and livelihood needs of millions of Palestinian
refugees, especially women and children. The funding will also
contribute to stability in the region by providing basic services to
people whose needs would otherwise be unmet.


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