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The Weekly GAB Friday, October 26, 2018
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=z30QKZyvrqHRC6p4mBbm-A

USGLC in the News

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Global Economy Needs US Diplomatic, Development Corps

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=ROAzGH026Oq51JNRG_HlOA

Mayor Nan Whaley, City of Dayton, Ohio

Investing in strong, well-funded American diplomatic and development
programs goes a long way toward advancing our interests while building
allies and export markets... In today's economy, foreign policy
isn't always so foreign. And as a mayor, I am proud to support
the U.S. International Affairs budget and urge Ohio's
congressional delegation to ensure it remains fully funded. It's
an investment we can't afford not to make.

NPR

As Migrant Caravan Winds North, Trump Vows to Cut Aid to Countries
They're Fleeing |

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

Colin Dwyer

As a vast train of migrants treks across Mexico, fleeing violence and
poverty for the fate that awaits them at the U.S. border, President
Trump is vowing that there will be repercussions for the countries
that have allowed their passage... The U.S. has spent nearly $200
million in foreign aid this year for the three countries Trump listed
in his tweet - Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. The State
Department says the money, which is spent in collaboration with
programs run by the three countries, aims to promote economic growth,
step up security and strengthen the rule of law. In Honduras alone,
agricultural investments by the U.S. Agency for International
Development "have helped lift 68,000 people out of extreme poverty,"
according to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a group advocating
for stronger international assistance.

Who's in the News

THE HILL

Most Refugees Won't Return to Syria Until Conditions Are Right
- Here's How to Help

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=KnUSVPs92rFVmhMAox810A

Peter Yeo, Senior Vice President, United Nations Foundation

It seems logical: As the brutal Syrian civil war appears to wind down,
the estimated five million Syrians who fled the violence in their
homeland will soon be asked to return home. Neighboring countries with
hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees can shed the burden of
hosting foreign populations. Syrian refugees, who overwhelmingly say
they want to return to their homeland, begin the transition. A
rational scenario perhaps, but there's one catch: most refugees
won't return until conditions in Syria are right. The sooner
U.S. policy makers and countries hosting Syrian refugees plan for this
reality, the better.

NPR

The Consequences of Threatening Foreign Aid Cuts Over Immigration
Enforcement

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=JRZbujq_OfwAXYyj5kuOLA

Lulu Garcia-Navarro Speaks to Andrew Natsios, former USAID
Administrator

The principal reason people migrate, particularly in Central America,
is for better jobs and a better life - for economic reasons. And the
trigger that usually sets them off in terms of their journey to the
United States, to the border is gang violence. And so if you can
reduce gang violence and increase economic growth in these countries,
then the motivation to leave their countries toward the United States
will diminish. And to cancel those programs means they're putting the
American people at risk.

THE STATESMAN
National Security Dimensions of Global Food Insecurity

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=jQpagn1iKMbGQJ6RARuPHA

Gen. Bill McRaven, former Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command
(2011-2014); Rep. Michael McCaul, (R-TX)

Global hunger is a major national security concern. A generation of
hundreds of millions of malnourished, and physically and cognitively,
stunted adults contributes to instability and fragility. With a
population bulge already under way in Sub-Saharan Africa and South
Asia, malnutrition and food insecurity could be a primary driver for
countries and regions moving toward greater poverty and instability.
This poses a direct threat to the national security of the U.S.
Therefore, we must adopt a comprehensive strategy to address global
food insecurity at its root causes.

TIME
What Must Be Done to Create a World Without Polio

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=6XSB0emgL4ZLjjYgHYaHOw

Barry Rassin, President, Rotary International; Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization

Thirty years ago, the world united under a bold promise: a future free
from polio. In the decades since, organizations from across the world
have worked alongside dedicated governments and health workers to make
good on that promise. In addition to developments like improved access
to clean water, vaccination efforts like those led by the Global Polio
Eradication Initiative have yielded an incredible drop in wild
poliovirus cases: from 1,000 a day in 1988, to 22 in all of 2017. If
we finish the job, polio will become only the second human disease,
after smallpox, to be wiped from the face of the earth.

Development & Diplomacy

NPR

Food, Peace Building, Legal Aid: What Trump Would Cut from Central
America |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=bL0vjnsMlTkmt2AW9LbNTg

Sean McMinn

As thousands of migrants make their way north toward the United
States, President Trump has threatened to end federal aid going to
their home countries. Together, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador
received from the United States about $480 million in the last fiscal
year for which complete data is available. The largest portion of that
money - about 16 percent - went toward agricultural
development. But also high on the list of 2017 gifts was spending on
more humanitarian-geared programs: Basic nutrition, civilian
peace-building, security needs and legal development funds made up
more than a quarter of the total aid.

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Why Trump Is Wrong About Aid to Central America |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=L7B5_88oy8E0jj9nm3ThSg

Editorial Board

In recent years, instability, poverty and violence have combined to
revive fears that Central America imperils the peace and security of
the United States. Unfortunately, it has not gotten the focused
attention it once had - much less the kind of help these
countries need to address their problems effectively. Honduras,
Guatemala and El Salvador, says Doctors Without Borders, are awash in
violence on a scale rarely seen outside war zones. "Citizens are
murdered with impunity," it notes, and "kidnappings and
extortions are daily occurrences." ... Americans often question
the value of providing financial and other help to countries far from
our shores that have no relevance to our security. But Central America
is in our neighborhood, and its troubles clearly affect our interests.
To reduce aid because of the people seeking refuge would worsen the
problems that cause them to flee their homelands.

THE HILL

How Should the US Reform Foreign Assistance in a Period of Great Power
Competition?

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=-X6h4LEwWIvuDXL-jiZkCg

Daniel Runde, Center for Strategic and International Studies

The Trump Administration is going through a review of foreign
assistance. That's good: We should review our aid, because we
want to ensure that it is effective, supporting our broader foreign
and national security policy and meeting the needs of our partners...
The good news is that from all reports the questions being asked in
the review are relevant questions... The bad news is that the process
pursued to date has not brought in expert voices, and only in the 11th
hour have they brought in the relevant agencies involved in U.S.
foreign assistance.

VOX

Trump Officials Have Barred Health Experts from Helping End One of the
Worst Ebola Outbreaks in History |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=edbPKm9WzU7e1uT3sEMq2Q

Julia Belluz and Alex Ward

One of the largest Ebola outbreaks in history shows no signs of
slowing - and the Trump administration barred US health experts
who want to help at the outbreak's epicenter in the Democratic
Republic of Congo from traveling there... Others who have been on the
ground working to curb this Ebola outbreak, which has led to 251 cases
and 127 deaths so far, say they didn't notice the CDC's
brief presence at all. A senior humanitarian official not affiliated
with the Trump administration told Vox that he believed CDC experts
were never in Beni... The relatively tepid response from the US, at a
time when the outbreak is spiraling, has former CDC officials and
global health experts concerned.

IRIN NEWS
Cholera Returns to Yemen, with Powerful Allies |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=o4tt9RvDGU1sIT28gssMmQ

Amal Mamoon

The doctors and nurses at Hodeidah city's al-Salakhanah Hospital
know what a cholera outbreak looks like: they've seen the influx
of patients complaining of diarrhoea before, the crying children
afraid of needles and intravenous drips, the nervous family members at
bedsides. Last year, with Yemen's health system decimated by
war, a disease that should be easy to treat spread quickly, and by May
2017 it was taking one life an hour. The disease killed 2,510 people
and infected a suspected 1.2 million others since late April 2017,
when official records start. It faded early this year. But cholera is
now making a comeback, and something about this spike is different,
says Elham Twaiti, a nurse who is busy admitting a line of new
patients.

PACIFIC DAILY NEWS

Death, Injuries, Looming Humanitarian Crisis in Typhoon-Hit Islands of
Saipan and Tinian |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=p20FNh5Dt-5D_av5sJ4oWA

Haidee V Eugenio

Relief workers were out in force on Saipan and Tinian Friday after
Super Typhoon Yutu killed one person, knocked out power and water,
damaged airports and destroyed houses, schools and businesses.
Essentials such as Food, drinking water and fuel for power generators
and vehicles were in low supply on Tinian as of Friday, according to
Tinian Mayor Joey San Nicolas... U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar
declared a public health emergency for Saipan, Tinian and the rest of
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. More than 50 medical
and public health personnel, along with medical supplies and equipment
were moved to Guam before the storm and will be moved to the CNMI, the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said.

FOREIGN POLICY
State Department Considering Public Diplomacy Overhaul |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=4MfiLxFaJYMwTxG4J3gSyg

Robbie Gramer

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is weighing measures to overhaul the
U.S. State Department's public diplomacy arm amid a wider debate
in Washington on how to respond to Russian and Chinese social media
and disinformation campaigns. This summer, Pompeo directed the Bureau
of Public Affairs and the Bureau of International Information Programs
to explore a possible merger, a State Department spokesman confirmed
to Foreign Policy. The plan drawn up entails merging the two bureaus
under the new name Bureau of Outreach. Some of the international
information programs bureau's responsibilities would also shift
to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The new bureau
would likely be headed by Michelle Giuda, the current assistant
secretary of state for public affairs, officials said, though the
State Department spokesman did not confirm this.

Politics & Foreign Policy

THE GUARDIAN
Donald Trump Invites Vladimir Putin to Washington |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Xtih7DGY7blstZUX6jY-DA

Andrew Roth

Donald Trump has formally invited Vladimir Putin to visit Washington
DC next year, the US national security adviser, John Bolton, has
confirmed. "We have invited President Putin to
Washington," Bolton said during a visit to Tbilisi, Georgia. It
is not clear whether Putin has accepted the White House's
invitation, which came when Bolton visited the Kremlin earlier this
week. The meeting would be a highly anticipated sequel to the
pair's controversial summit in Helsinki in July, igniting a
firestorm of criticism against Trump, who has ignored Republican hawks
to seek a close personal relationship with Putin.

FOREIGN POLICY
Bolton's Whisper Campaign to Oust Mattis |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=4WctwvHNf_UbKO-kMg0oRg

Lara Seligman

White House National Security Advisor John Bolton and his deputy are
trying to squeeze out U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis by spreading
rumors about his imminent departure, according to two well-placed
sources. Bolton and Mira Ricardel, the deputy national security
advisor, who has repeatedly clashed with Mattis over Defense
Department personnel appointments, believe the defense secretary is
"not ideologically aligned" with President Donald
Trump's administration, according to one of the sources, a
former senior defense official. The two are trying "to build the
sense that he is done for," the former official said.

YAHOO NEWS
Pompeo Says US to Fight China 'Empire' of 'Bribes' |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=ue85lz-pRjTdF0Ks07K5YA

Agence France-Presse Staff

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday accused China of seeking
to build an "empire" by bribing leaders with investment and vowed to
fight it "at every turn." As tensions led by trade disputes soar
between China and President Donald Trump's administration, the United
States has increasingly warned developing nations, especially in Latin
America, to beware Beijing's economic push... China's economic push
"certainly presents risk to American interests, and we intend to
oppose them at every turn," he said. Pompeo cast the Chinese policy as
part of a more assertive drive by President Xi Jinping, saying that
Beijing's willingness to splash money around the world has increased
in the past two to three years.

POLITICO

How a Smooth Saudi Operative Charms Washington and Defends 'the
Indefensible' |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=3SlRQ8TsdEY7rhMA2NbeNQ

Nahal Toosi

Even as evidence mounted last week that a Saudi Arabian hit squad had
murdered and dismembered his friend, Jamal Khashoggi, Washington
operative Ali Shihabi took to Twitter to do what he does best: defend
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia... The global outrage over
Khashoggi's murder has forced many Washington lobbyists and
public relations pros to cut ties with the Saudi government. But not
Shihabi, a Saudi national who may be the country's most
effective defender in the U.S. capital. Media savvy and politically
shrewd, Shihabi has relationships with prominent journalists, Trump
administration officials and think tank experts throughout Washington.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Shinzo Abe Says Japan Is China's 'Partner,' and No
Longer Its Aid Donor |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=wWGtw00UAzYK8WvFEjc96g

Steven Lee Myers and Motoko Rich

It has been eight years since China overtook Japan as the
world's second-largest economy. Yet the Japanese government
continued to provide China with development assistance usually
reserved for poorer countries. Until now. In Beijing for the first
official visit by a Japanese leader since 2011, Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe acknowledged China's economic dominance by announcing an end
to the aid. Instead, he pledged to forge deeper economic and political
cooperation, in what is widely seen as a hedge against the volatile,
America-first policies of President Trump.

POLITICO
Bolton Achieving 'Life's Work' by Axing International Deals |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=gjXkAXhXqPB49lmebPoN8Q

Eliana Johnson

When John Bolton was a State Department official under President
George W. Bush, he loved nothing more than sabotaging international
agreements that he felt undermined America's sovereignty and
security. His "happiest moment" at the State Department,
he recalled in a 2007 memoir, came when he personally extracted the
U.S. from the International Criminal Court. "I felt like a kid
on Christmas Day," Bolton wrote. Now that Bolton is President
Donald Trump's national security adviser, Christmas has been
coming early and often.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
U.S., EU Trade Teams Seek Fast Results and Big Savings |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=fss132_Skt7N29Q1XmUGhg

Emre Peker

U.S. and European trade negotiators are chasing quick wins to cement a
July cease-fire. Problem is, even seemingly simple trade moves can
take years. President Trump and European Commission President
Jean-Claude Juncker agreed at the White House on July 25 to avert a
trade fight and work toward "zero tariffs, zero non-tariff
barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods." ...
Negotiators, after disagreeing about the scope of a quick mini trade
deal, are now focused on aligning American and European regulations on
goods and services. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer hopes
for "an early harvest in the area of technical barriers to
trade," his office said last month after his first round of
talks with Ms. Malmstrom.


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