Global Impact Blog
The US in Haiti
By Jordan Smith at 10 March, 2010, 6:04 pm
President Obama met with Haitian President Rene Preval today, pledging aid to the distraught nation. “The situation on the ground remains dire,” Mr. Obama said after meeting with Preval at the White House. “And people should be under no illusions that the crisis is over.” Navy officials said earlier today that the hospital ship U.S.N.S. [...]
The Senate on How to Fight Terrorism
By Hannah Kaye at 10 March, 2010, 4:56 pm
In a Wednesday morning Senate Armed Services Subcommittee hearing on countering violent extremism, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Combating Terror Garry Reid told Senators, “the best thing you [Congress] could for us would be to expand the resources and the capacity within the diplomatic side of the house and the State [...]
USGLC in the Media
By Jordan Smith at 10 March, 2010, 2:22 pm
USGLC is getting media attention for its letter to Congress from military leaders urging a boost in the International Affairs Budget. Among the most influential reporters in D.C., Laura Rozen of Politico writes that “[j]oining recent calls by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen to expand [...]
Restoring America’s Reputation
By Salim Alchurbaji at 8 March, 2010, 1:21 pm
The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight held a hearing on March 4th entitled “Restoring America’s Reputation in the World: Why it Matters.” Chairman Russ Carnahan (D-MO) noted that international opinion of the United States and its foreign policies were at an all-time low in 2007, but, according to a [...]
On African Development
By Jordan Smith at 8 March, 2010, 12:46 pm
Is Africa progressing? That’s the controversial assertion of two U.S. economists, who write that in the 10 years before the credit crunch began, poverty rates fell rapidly and inequality declined right across the continent. Xavier Sala-i-Martin and Maxim Pinkovskiy have published an article through America’s National Bureau of Economic Research that contradicts the views of [...]
Rajiv Shah’s Week on the Hill
By Jordan Smith at 4 March, 2010, 6:06 pm
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah was on Capitol Hill this week discussing the FY11 International Affairs Budget. He first appeared yesterday before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Members of the committee praised Shah for his leadership during the Haiti crisis, and other USAID efforts, and Shah outlined top priorities for USAID in the days ahead. [...]
Rajiv Shah in the House
By Hannah Kaye at 3 March, 2010, 4:47 pm
On Wednesday, March 3, USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah appeared before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs to discuss the FY11 International Affairs Budget request. Members of the committee praised Shah for his leadership during the Haiti crisis and other USAID efforts, and Shah outlined top priorities for USAID in the days ahead. In his [...]
Haiti: A Long-Term Development Need
By Richard Parker at 3 March, 2010, 9:10 am
As the U.S. begins aiding in the recovery efforts in Chile after the devastating earthquake there last Saturday, we should not forget the long road that still lies ahead for Haiti’s own recovery efforts. Now that the cameras are off and the news crews have turned their attention to other natural disasters elsewhere, the real [...]
So What’s Business Got to do with Foreign Aid?
By Joel Paque at 2 March, 2010, 2:53 pm
A recent report by the Initiative for Global Development asks, “what does business have to do with foreign aid?” The report’s authors make the case that the country’s interests are aligned with the interests of U.S. business in concerns about the expansion of economic growth worldwide. “America’s health and security are inextricably linked with the [...]
Gates Raises Proposal for Security Assistance Reform
By John Glenn at 26 February, 2010, 5:15 pm
In a speech to the Nixon Center Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates highlighted anew his proposal for “pooled authorities” for international security assistance to be funded and administered jointly by State and Defense – a proposal he originally made in a letter to Secretary Clinton in December. Congressional authority for this funding, known as [...]
