home > by publication type > podcasts > A 'Historic Time' for Tackling Reform of U.S. Foreign Aid System
Email
| Interviewee: | Laurie A. Garrett, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations |
|---|---|
| Interviewer: | Robert McMahon, Deputy Editor, Council on Foreign Relations |
January 30, 2009
The U.S. foreign aid system--often described by experts as both essential and chaotic--has proven difficult to reform despite decades of efforts. With a full-blown global economic crisis commanding the attention of the Obama administration, this would appear to be a difficult time to revive a reform effort, but a new CFR report says this could be a moment of opportunity.
The author of that report, CFR Senior Fellow Laurie Garrett, says the prospects for reforming foreign aid are heightened by a combination of factors - a new presidential administration, growing pressure for fiscal prudence, and a mounting awareness among aid experts, especially in health care, of the cluttered nature of U.S. aid programs. "There is a sense throughout the government that dollars spent during a time of financial crisis have to be spent wisely," Garrett says. "We no longer can have duplicating programs, policy redundancies, or contradictory programs."
Garrett says President Barack Obama can move immediately to rationalize U.S. foreign assistance policy by appointing a single official to direct aid efforts currently shared among twenty-two separate agencies. "There should be a deputy national security council director inside the White House who specifically deals with internally coordinating foreign assistance and then externally coordinating foreign assistance with other pieces of the foreign policy agenda," Garrett says. Any overhaul of U.S. foreign assistance policy will still require congressional action and Garrett says there is growing bipartisan support for changes.
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
I understand that I may access this podcast solely for my personal use. Any other use of the file and its content, including display, distribution, reproduction, or alteration in any form for any purpose, whether commercial, noncommercial, educational, or promotional, is expressly prohibited without the written permission of the copyright owner, the Council on Foreign Relations. For more information, write webmaster@cfr.org.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.