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The Weekly GAB Friday, July 14, 2017
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
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USGLC in the News

DEVEX
US Aid Budget Moves Forward, but Democrats Plan to Fight Cuts |

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Michael Igoe

A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee approved a budget bill to
fund U.S. foreign affairs programs Thursday, despite Democrats'
vows to fight back against the spending plan on a number of fronts.
"Given the range of global threats from famines to North Korea
to unrest in the Middle East, the deep and disproportionate cuts to
America's civilian forces proposed by the House would simply
make our nation less safe. If it's signed into law, we would
wake up a few years from now - just like we did in the 1990s
- and deeply regret the decisions we made today," said Liz
Schrayer, president and CEO of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition,
in a statement.

Who's in the News

THE NEW YORK TIMES
The Trump Vision for America Abroad

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Gary D. Cohn, Director, National Economic Council, and Lt. Gen. H. R.
McMaster, National Security Adviser

President Trump just concluded a second overseas trip to further
advance America's interests and values, and to strengthen our
alliances around the world. Both this and his first trip demonstrated
the resurgence of American leadership to bolster common interests,
affirm shared values, confront mutual threats and achieve renewed
prosperity. Perhaps most important, President Trump affirmed on this
trip that America First is grounded in American values - values
that not only strengthen America but also drive progress throughout
the world.

Development & Diplomacy

CNN
Trump Should Not Relinquish 'Soft Power'

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Ret. Adm. James Stavridis, former Supreme Allied Commander in Europe

Some people are shocked that military leaders are such strong
advocates of what Harvard's Joseph Nye called "soft power," or the
ability of a country to persuade without force or coercion. But I know
first-hand how it enhances America's security. Which is why I am so
concerned about the Trump's administration proposed budget cuts to
soft-power programs throughout the government. Under the budget
proposal for 2018, military spending amounts to about 16% of the
budget, while State Department programs account for less than 1%.
While I am not proposing a specific ratio of spending, I believe there
is a symbiotic relationship between hard and soft power and that, in
both cases, we need to invest in the programs that succeed.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
House Panel Unveils Foreign Aid Cuts, Backs US-Mexico Wall |

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Andrew Taylor

House Republicans on Wednesday unveiled legislation slashing $10
billion from foreign aid, a sharp reduction but not as deep a cut as
President Donald Trump wants. The House foreign aid cuts spared Israel
and Egypt and exempted the budget for protecting U.S. embassies
overseas. But it slashed U.S. payments to the United Nations by $600
million and cut funding for multilateral organizations focused on
topics such as climate change and debt relief by more than 60 percent.
Direct U.S. economic aid to poor and unstable nations absorbed a $4.2
billion cut to $22.7 billion.

THE WASHINGTON POST
America's Glorious Guilt |

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Michael Gerson

But why, when it comes down to it, should events in rural Kenya matter
to well-fed, largely goatless, non-pastoralists living on the other
side of the Earth? There is a theoretical response: Starvation and
resulting mass migrations are destabilizing. Bad actors such as
al-Shabab thrive in such chaos. Such terrorist threats are hard to
isolate once they are fully emerged (as we've seen in Somalia
and Nigeria). The prevention of conflicts and threats is more than
worth the tiny portion of the U.S. budget - less than 1 percent
- that is currently dedicated to foreign assistance.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
US Giving $638M Aid to Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria, South Sudan

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The United States on Saturday announced more than $630 million in aid
for Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria, where conflict has helped
to cause what the United Nations calls the world's largest
humanitarian crisis in more than 70 years. The announcement came as
President Donald Trump attended the Group of 20 summit in Germany.
"We welcome President Trump's attention to the global
humanitarian crisis, but he was announcing aid that Congress approved
months ago and that his administration has delayed," Rev. David
Beckmann, president of the Washington-based Christian organization
Bread for the World, said in a statement.

FOREIGN POLICY
Trump Is Wrong to Retreat From the Global Fight Against AIDS |

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Mark P. Lagon

At a Senate Committee on Appropriations hearing in June, Sen. Lindsey
Graham (R-S.C.) made the case for continued U.S. investment in
programs like the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
(PEPFAR) to end pandemic diseases. "As a Republican, I'm
proud of President Bush, who came up with a program called
PEPFAR," he said. "The return on the dollar for the PEPFAR
program has been absolutely astounding." Graham was responding
to sweeping cuts proposed by the Trump administration. He continued,
"There are a lot - hundreds of thousands - of people
that will not be treated [for HIV] because of this budget cut. I think
it's just penny-wise and pound-foolish."

POLITICO

Trump Pledges $50 Million to Women Entrepreneurs' Fund Championed by
Ivanka |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=AgQlMFGtqKMswAVkJvCs5A

Rebecca Morin

President Donald Trump announced Saturday at the G-20 summit that the
U.S. has pledged $50 million to the World Bank's fund spurring women
entrepreneurs, a program supported by his daughter Ivanka Trump. "When
more women participate in the work force, which by the way will be a
lot more competition for people like me prior to government... the
world economy will grow and millions of people will be lifted out of
poverty," the president said, according to a pool report. President
Trump also said women in developing and developed countries present
"tremendous promise for economic growth and prosperity."

REUTERS

Contraceptives Are "One of the Greatest Anti-Poverty Innovations":
Melinda Gates |

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Emma Batha

Contraceptives are "one of the greatest anti-poverty innovations the
world has ever known", philanthropist Melinda Gates said on Tuesday,
calling for family planning to be a global priority. Access to birth
control boosts economic productivity by allowing women to earn an
income and leads to smaller families with more resources to spend on
children's health and education, Gates said. The Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation was co-hosting an international summit in London on family
planning...The foundation will announce an additional $375 million for
family planning over the next four years.

BLOOMBERG
How Foreign Aid Helps Grand Rapids, Michigan |

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Marcela Escobari

"I need to explain why this expense makes sense for a family in
Grand Rapids, Michigan," said Mick Mulvaney, President Donald
Trump's budget director. He was attempting to justify why the
administration's 2018 budget request slashes foreign aid by more
than 30 percent. Fair enough. To the family in Grand Rapids: Know that
foreign aid is helping you stay safe, and tackling messy challenges at
their roots. Keep asking tough questions about government spending and
demanding accountability. You deserve a full and nuanced explanation,
not snippets or slogans. Even if you don't believe spending U.S.
taxpayer dollars to assist Central America is our obligation, it is
undoubtedly in our best interest.

THE WASHINGTON POST
A Worthy Legacy of the Ebola Catastrophe |

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The Editorial Board

One of the most disturbing lessons to emerge from the Ebola virus
disease epidemic in West Africa in 2014-2015 was how unprepared the
world was for it. When it was over, several studies concluded that the
world needs a well-funded, rapid-reaction mechanism, a firefighting
team ready to deploy quickly in the face of spreading disease. The
World Health Organization proposed a $100 million contingency fund but
so far has raised only $31.5 million...Now comes the World Bank with a
novel program that could help realize the goal of rapid response to
such emergency health threats and save lives. The bank has announced
the issuance of $500 million in specialized bonds and derivatives that
will help poor countries cope with a pandemic such as Ebola.

THE GUARDIAN

Poll Reveals 85% of Americans Oblivious to Hunger in Africa and Middle
East |

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Hannah Summers

Less than a fifth of Americans are aware that extreme hunger threatens
the lives of 20 million people in Africa and the Middle East, yet the
overwhelming majority regard it as the most pressing global issue once
they have been told, a poll of US voters has revealed. Research by the
International Rescue Committee showed that millennials, loosely
defined as young adults born between 1981 and 1997, are the generation
most concerned about solving the hunger crisis in Yemen, Somalia,
South Sudan and Nigeria. Yet overall public awareness of the situation
is low, with only 15% of Americans apprised of the facts even though
73% said, once informed, that it was a major global concern.

Politics & Foreign Policy

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Tillerson Comes Up Short in Effort to Resolve Qatar Dispute |

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Gardiner Harris

Weary after failing to resolve a bitter dispute among regional allies,
Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson left the Middle East on Thursday,
contrasting the "fragmented" decision making of the United
States government with that of Exxon Mobil, the "highly
structured" company he once ran. Much of Mr. Tillerson's
focus since taking office has been on an effort to restructure the
State Department, but the extended process and proposed deep budget
cuts have resulted in a mixture of bewilderment and fierce opposition
even among Republicans on Capitol Hill. Despite these difficulties,
Mr. Tillerson decided to try his hand at shuttle diplomacy this week.
But after three days of sipping tea with royalty on white coaches in
ornate palaces, he said that a solution remains far off.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Trump's 'America First' Policy Proves to Be an
Immovable Object at G-20 |

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Peter Nicholas

Through marathon meetings and dinners at the Group of 20 summit,
various world leaders sought to coax America's new president to
accept core tenets of the internationalist order they embrace,
including commitment to free trade and tough environmental regulation.
He barely budged. In his second foreign trip, President Donald Trump
largely held firm to the nationalist principles that were central to
his campaign identity, suggesting that the America First doctrine that
underpins his foreign policy is more durable than some of his European
counterparts had hoped.

THE WASHINGTON POST
How Trump Is Changing America's Foreign Policy |

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Reuben Fischer-Baum and Julie Vitkovskaya

During the election, Donald Trump campaigned on an "America
first" philosophy - less foreign intervention, fairer
trade deals and stronger borders. The Trump administration has made
concrete changes on several U.S. policies related to those issues, in
some cases reversing President Barack Obama's signature
achievements. Other Trump foreign policy goals remain partially or
fully unrealized. That doesn't mean that Trump has been silent
on these issues. The president often takes to Twitter to admonish
China for its failure to deter North Korea's nuclear advancement
or criticize the prior administration's Iran nuclear deal. But
what is the Trump White House actually doing to follow up on its still
unrealized promises?


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