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The Weekly GAB Friday, January 12, 2018
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=4_EEu_XaP9i4Hcxsv6uKLw

USGLC in the News

DEVEX
US Aid Policy to Watch in 2018 |
http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=N3isaEh07a8PG8_1ZhKycw

Adva Saldinger

The Trump administration is expected to release its fiscal year 2019
budget proposal in February, and most of the policy and budget experts
Devex has spoken to predict that the proposal will include cuts to the
foreign aid budget that either match or surpass the roughly 32 percent
cut proposed for 2018. Most of those experts also believe Congress
will once again push back against those numbers and reject such deep
cuts to the foreign aid budget. Last month, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a
Republican from South Carolina, who is the chairman of the Senate
Appropriations subcommittee on state, foreign operations and related
programs, predicted that this budget cycle may even bring more funding
for development programs. "We're about to go into a new
budget cycle. I'll make one prediction: When this is all over,
we're gonna have more money for foreign assistance, not
less," Graham said at the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition
tribute dinner.

Who's in the News

THE HILL
Congress Can't Shortchange America's Humanitarian Responses

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=7JRgrHzAWKeTb_gb9d3bPQ

Abby Maxman, President and CEO of Oxfam America, and Sean Callahan,
President and CEO of Catholic Relief Services

Given these daunting circumstances, we urge Congress and the budget
negotiators to quickly arrive at a budget deal to avoid automatic
spending cuts and provide at least the same amount of funding for
critical humanitarian, development and diplomacy programs as enacted
for fiscal 2017. Congress may provide funding for military increases,
and it is critical that they complement this with funding for
humanitarian assistance, as it likely will reduce the need for costly
U.S. military engagement. Defense, diplomacy, and development each
play critical and complementary roles in U.S. foreign policy.

THE POST AND COURIER

South Carolina's GOP, Trade and Military Presence Has Produced Key
Players in Trump Administration |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=H1W5igoWGcE4oI0VAB40zQ

Jamie Lovegrove

Despite South Carolina's relatively small size, the Palmetto State has
produced several key figures serving throughout the nation's foreign
policy apparatus in President Donald Trump's administration. But
two...factors...helped produce the outward-looking focus of many South
Carolina politicians: the state's heavy reliance on international
trade and its significant presence of military installations and
veteran communities. "The president's very smart to rely on
proven South Carolina leaders," [Matt] Moore said. "This president is
very focused on using all the tools of America's military and
diplomatic power, and South Carolina has a lot of experts in those
areas."

Development & Diplomacy

DEVEX
Peace Corps Chief Nomination Met With Widespread Approval, Relief |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=ko6bwbo2-ELT6dFCV8D4Fw

Kelli Rogers

The announcement of nominee Josephine Olsen to lead the Peace Corps
has been met with sighs of relief and applause throughout the global
development and social work communities. The White House announced
last Wednesday that Olsen, currently a visiting professor at the
University of Maryland School of Social Work, will be the
administration's nominee for Peace Corps director. Olsen is no
stranger to the Peace Corps, having served as a volunteer herself in
Tunisia from 1966 to 1968, followed by decades in a variety of roles
- including holding most every level of leadership position for
the agency: Country director, regional director, deputy director, and
acting director.

THE WASHINGTON POST

The Daily 202: Trump Has No Nominees for 245 Important Jobs, Including
an Ambassador to South Korea |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=lfJmG4pN5_xjvU4Yb-WgyQ

James Hohmann

As you can see, no department has more unfilled slots than State. Rex
Tillerson wanted to conduct a review of how the department worked
before he filled all the open positions. He resisted some people that
the White House wanted, and for a variety of other well-documented
reasons he found himself on thin ice with the president. As official
Washington speculates about when "Rexit" will come, there
are still no nominees for...12 assistant secretary positionS.. The
administration has also not nominated ambassadors to many major
countries, from close allies like Australia to strategically important
regional powers like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The most striking
on the list, though, might be South Korea.

DEVEX

MCC CEO Nominee Would Bring Political Ties, But Some Question
Expertise |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=HbeEAym9qcgABs5Ds3sllA

Adva Saldinger

The announcement of a nominee to lead the Millennium Challenge
Corporation was welcome news in the development community, as the
agency has been operating with an acting chief executive officer for
about a year, but some raised questions about the nominee's
seeming lack of development expertise. Following the announcement, a
number of people on social media pointed out that Cairncross seemed to
lack development or foreign policy experience, but others, in
conversation with Devex, have pointed out that some other MCC CEOs
haven't had that much development experience either coming in,
and that his political connections should be useful for the agency.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
Why 2017 Was the Best Year in Human History |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Ae6ddV4N99iAyD36MCjdkg

Nicholas Kristof

In fact, 2017 was probably the very best year in the long history of
humanity. A smaller share of the world's people were hungry,
impoverished or illiterate than at any time before. A smaller
proportion of children died than ever before. The proportion
disfigured by leprosy, blinded by diseases like trachoma or suffering
from other ailments also fell. We need some perspective as we watch
the circus in Washington, hands over our mouths in horror. We
journalists focus on bad news...but the backdrop of global progress
may be the most important development in our lifetime.

CHRISTIANITY TODAY

What Tim Keller and Michael Gerson Want You to Know About How America
Spends its Money |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=N95HdTJYgv7AOtE80sajLQ

Sarah Kate Neall

Tim Keller's national reputation doesn't come from his
political positions...Yet 2017 may have been Keller's most
politically active year yet. After the Trump administration announced
a budget that proposed significant cuts to foreign aid, Keller's
former church held a global poverty event sponsored by Bono's
ONE Campaign. There, Keller joined former George W. Bush speechwriter
and adviser Michael Gerson and the World Bank Group's Edith
Jibunoh to discuss where the church's presence and perspective
belong in American foreign assistance conversations. Keller and Gerson
recently sat down with writer Sarah Kate Neall to discuss that moral
vision, the nationalism which threatens benevolence, and the key facts
in a conversation about foreign aid.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
We're Not Ready for a Flu Pandemic

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=3GEN_xvRIN_teUL7DD9ahg

Michael T. Osterholm, Director, Center for Infectious Disease Research
and Policy, University of Minnesota, and Mark Olshaker, writer and
documentary filmmaker

The influenza season is just getting started in the United States, and
it already promises to be more severe than usual. Yet as bad as this
winter's epidemic is, it won't compare with the flu
pandemic that is almost certainly on the horizon if we don't
dedicate energy and resources to a universal vaccine. We are not
prepared. Our current vaccines are based on 1940s research. Deploying
them against a severe global pandemic would be equivalent to trying to
stop an advancing battle tank with a single rifle. Limited global
manufacturing capacity combined with the five to six months it takes
to make these vaccines mean many people would never even have a chance
to be vaccinated. Little is being done to aggressively change this
unacceptable situation. We will have worldwide flu pandemics. Only
their severity is unknown.

Politics & Foreign Policy

ROLL CALL
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce Announces Retirement |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=LPQM3UP5cL0uQD-8G4sf3w

Bridget Bowman

Rep. Ed Royce announced Monday he will not be running for re-election.
The California Republican is in his final term as chairman of the
House Foreign Affairs Committee. "In this final year of my
Foreign Affairs Committee chairmanship, I want to focus fully on the
urgent threats facing our nation, including: the brutal, corrupt and
dangerous regimes in Pyongyang and Tehran, Vladimir Putin's
continued efforts to weaponize information to fracture western
democracies, and growing terrorist threats in Africa and Central
Asia," Royce said in a statement. Royce becomes the fifth
term-limited chairman to exit Congress this election cycle.

THE HILL
Trump Steps Up Threats to Foreign Aid |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=xFOyhzDZNgzdZctCQHWe0w

Max Greenwood

President Trump has stepped up the use of foreign aid cuts as a
foreign policy tool. The Trump administration moved on Thursday to
suspend security assistance to Pakistan, signaling a new attempt to
pressure Islamabad to crack down on terrorist networks operating in
the country. Among those who supported the move was Sen. Rand Paul
(R-Ky.). Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), a member of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee who has been a vocal advocate for reforming U.S.
foreign assistance, said that Islamabad's failure to crack down
on militant groups operating within Pakistan's borders made it
impossible to justify continuing security aid.

POLITICO
GOP May Skip Budget, Kneecapping 2018 Ambitions |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=GhaLt6YdO0s-mIuev7vW2w

Rachel Bade and Sarah Ferris

Republican leaders are considering skipping passage of a GOP budget
this year - a blow to the party's weakened fiscal hawks
that would squash all 2018 efforts to revamp entitlements or repeal
Obamacare. White House and Hill GOP leaders discussed the possibility
of forgoing the painful budget process during last weekend's
Camp David legislative summit, according to four sources familiar with
the talks. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has argued that he
cannot pass controversial deficit-reduction legislation using powerful
budget procedures with his new 51-vote majority - and
wasn't even sure he could find the votes for a fiscal blueprint
in the first place.

ABC NEWS

Diplomats Face Challenge of Reassuring Allies They're Not 'S---hole
Countries' |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=WHlqTKUITz-sXVh_hSH7Ug

Conor Finnegan

After reports broke of President Donald Trump's disparaging comments
about Haiti and other African countries, the outrage overseas was
swift -- with governments demanding to know what the president really
said and whether the U.S. would apologize. Already, two top American
diplomats have been summoned by their host countries -- Earl Miller,
the ambassador to Botswana, and Robin Diallo, the charge d'affaires to
Haiti, the No. 2 in charge of the U.S. mission in the absence of an
ambassador. So what is the State Department advising? According to
internal guidance obtained by ABC News, the department is telling its
diplomats to "reiterate that we have great respect for the people of
Africa and all nations and our commitment remains strong."

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Historic Korea Meeting Makes Olympic Progress, but North Balks at
Nuclear Talk |

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

Andrew Jeong

South and North Korea started their first official face-to-face talks
in two years on Tuesday, with hopes that discussions could ease
tensions on the peninsula stemming from Pyongyang's
nuclear-weapons program. The Trump administration remains highly
suspicious of the North Koreans' motives at the talks and has
said it suspects Pyongyang may be trying to drive a wedge between
Seoul and Washington. Mr. Trump also made it clear he hasn't
dropped his preconditions for beginning his own dialogue with North
Korea...The administration so far has taken few of the steps experts
have said are necessary to reinforce Mr. Trump's hopeful words.

THE WASHINGTON POST

Trump Administration Keeps Nuclear Deal Alive for Now But Issues New
Sanctions Unrelated to the Agreement |

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=NsiYQe7hCxvBtVqfKdYZTQ

Anne Gearan and Carol Morello

President Trump on Friday kept alive the Iran nuclear deal he detests
by waiving sanctions for the third time, but he said he will not
repeat the reprieve unless the agreement is amended to permanently
block a potential pathway to build nuclear weapons. In conjunction
with the waivers, the Treasury Department placed sanctions on 14
people and entities for alleged offenses unrelated to Iran's
nuclear industry. They concern human rights abuses and censorship in
Iran and its arming of groups throughout the region. Trump's
decision avoided placing the United States immediately in violation of
the commitments it made in the 2015 deal. But he signaled his
willingness to withdraw from the deal in a few months unless changes
are made.


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