"Arrested Development: Making Foreign Aid a More Effective Tool"

In this article, Brian Atwood, Peter McPherson and Andrew Natsios -- who are all former Administrators of USAID -- note that while the U.S. foreign assistance budget has more than doubled to US$22 billion since 2000, the program is in need of reorganization. It is largely administered by diplomats and the military, rather than development experts. USAID staff has been reduced to the point that it only has six engineers and 16 agricultural experts. The Agency has closed 28 missions, reducing U.S. presence abroad and hampering our soft diplomacy. Moreover, the program is oriented to the earmarks of the U.S. Congress and initiatives of the administration than to the needs of the recipient countries.

The authors call for:

• a revision of the legislative mandate for foreign assistance,
  
• the creation of a strong independent agency with responsibility for implementing all development assistance programs and a voice on the National Security Council to influence a broad range of government policies that affect the social and economic development of poor nations,
• increasing the USAID operational budget to allow staffing and facilities to administer the program.

The article in Foreign Affairs (November/December 2008) can be purchased online, or of course is available in the print edition.

Comment: The authors are quite correct that the legislation for foreign assistance relates back to the cold war, and needs to be updated. They are also correct in the assertion that foreign aid is an important element of our soft diplomacy and has to implemented by development experts while coordinated with diplomats and the military.

I would add to their point that the United States needs to participate more fully in multilateral programs such as those of the World Bank and the World Health Organization. Currently the Department of the Treasury is responsible for oversight of American interests in the International Financial Institutions and the Department of State for U.S. interests in U.N. Agencies, with the Department of State and Department of Defense responsible for bilateral assistance. Perhaps an interagency council for international development might help with the coordination of these various efforts. JAD