Development Expert says New President must not Neglect International Responsibilities - PART 1 of 5 | Voice of America - English
In addition to facing grave domestic challenges, the next president of the United States will almost immediately be confronted with a number of foreign policy decisions that will affect Americans and the rest of the world. Several of these challenges for the new man in the White House will be in Africa. Experts agree that poverty, insecurity and disease in the developing world threaten the well-being of the international community to a far greater degree than ever before.
While much of the United States and the international community in recentmonths focused on the dramatic race between Barack Obama and John McCain, oneof the leading US think tanks was concentrating its energies on trying to setthe development agenda for the new administration. Experts at the Center for Global Development (CGD) inWashington, D.C., put their heads together to consider what they regard as themost pressing problems in the developing world that the new president shouldurgently address. Their insights are collected in arecent book, The White House and the World: A Global Development Agenda forthe Next U.S. President, which includes chapters on fragile or failingstates, climate change, trade and infrastructure, and what the new Americanadministration can do to help developing countries. ?(Thepublication) shows how modest changes in US policies could greatly improve thelives of poor people in developing countries, thus fostering greater stability,security and prosperity globally and at home,? says a CGD statement. Itcontinues, ?Soundglobal development policy ? on trade, migration, investment, and climate changeas well as foreign aid ? is no longer just the right thing to do; it is crucialto the safety and prosperity of the American people.? Oneof the main authors of the publication is CGD president Nancy Birdsall, who?sknown internationally for her work in the fields of the economy andglobalization, among others, and for her great experience in developingnations. She?s also the author of several books on the challenges facing poorcountries. Birdsall?s convinced thatdeveloping countries ? and development ? will bear fundamentally on the nextpresident?s responsibility to protect Americans and promote their prosperity inthe near future. She says the current global financial crisis, with its rootsin the US, has shown that ?we live in a hyper-connected world.? ?Much more today than in thepast, Americans rely on markets and opportunities in the developing world fortheir own economic prosperity, and they face risks in the developing world thataffect their security,? Birdsall states. Terrorism, she acknowledges,is the most ?high-profile? danger to the US as a result of lack of security inthe developing world, but she emphasizes that the risks extend beyond that, to,for example, diseases such as avian flu and instability in oil-rich economies like Nigeria andVenezuela. The US relies on these countries in part for fuel supplies, and sotheir instability directly affects America?s economic stability. Birdsall addsthat deforestation ? seen by many experts as one of the reasons for climatechange ? in the developing world, also affects quality of life in the US. In an interviewwith VOA, Birdsall said the ?key risk? to the US in the future and one thatwill ?immediately? confront the new president ?comes in the form of whathave come to be called ?fragile states? or ?failed states? ? sometimes ?flailingstates? is the expression used.? These terms are applied to under-resourced countries withlittle or no good governance, poor economies and extreme poverty, in which avoid therefore exists to be exploited by terrorist groups and other militants. Birdsall says instability in Africa ? especially in countries like Sudanand Somalia, where Islamic militants are a powerful regional force ? has thepotential in what is today a ?much smaller world? to ?spill over? intoneighboring countries and eventually into the United States itself, in the formof terrorist attacks against American targets. She advises the new administration to take a number ofsteps as soon as possible to prevent ?negative fallout? from fragile states. ?Thekey issue is to provide support ? and I?m not just talking about money andforeign aid ? to these countries, to make them safer and more secure? throughexpanded training to their security forces, for example. Birdsallsays drug trafficking in the developing world poses an ?obvious risk? to theUnited States, as does the ?corruption that often follows in countries that arevictims of the drug trafficking problem.? Shesays the new administration must support governments that are ?seriouslystruggling? to eliminate corruption and to build their capacity to have?sensible governance arrangements.? TheUS, according to Birdsall, should do its best to support the ?growth of amiddle class? in developing economies, ?because we know in our own system thatthe middle class is the bulwark of good government, in many ways. It?s themiddle class that wants the rules of the game to be played, that wants a levelplaying field?.? Theeconomist argues that the new president must ?put development at the core ofhis foreign policy.? ?(Thisis) the sort of development that is conveyed by a bigger middle class, that issymbolized by a better and more stable middle class. That has to do witheconomic security, of course, but it also has to do with the other indicatorsof development and wellbeing for people: better school systems, more access toeducational opportunities at the higher level, improved health services,infrastructure that is adequately maintained, eliminating corruption?.? Interms of development, says Birdsall, a revamped Washington should take the leadin ?protecting people in developing countries from global risks? such asclimate change. ?TheUS could make a major contribution just by harnessing its own technologicalacumen, research and development capacity and science ability, by developingand transferring technologies that are clean ? clean energy,? she comments. Birdsallcalls upon the new president to, within a few weeks of taking office, appoint aspecial official to lead America?s development efforts in poor countries. This,she writes in The White House and the World, will ?realize a revitalizedvision of the role of the United States in the world and (will) ensure thecountry?s ability to implement that vision of a better future for all theworld?s citizens, Americans included.? Sucha person, she insists, should have ?substantialexperience on the ground? in the developing world. ?Ideally it?s a person who understands theglobal community?s approach to working in and with developing countries. It?ssomeone who understands the economic issues, the social issues, ideally hassome experience in international organizations, or in a key part of the USgovernment?. In, say, the US Treasury or USAID (United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment).? Birdsall adds that the US?s specialdevelopment officer should have ?sympathy and empathy for the challenges facedby countries that have still together millions of people living below thepoverty line.? But ?most important? with regard to thisperson, she says, is that it?s someone who ?has the ear of the president,because the task for this person, as I envision it, is to work closely withCongress ? indeed it could be a person that comes from Capitol Hill ? and thevarious federal agencies that work on development issues.? International trade and economic experts havepraised various initiatives by the Bush administration, such as the AfricaGrowth and Opportunity Act, designed to boost economies on the continent, buthave also criticized the US for ?unfair? trade practices that impact negativelyon the developing world and have resulted in a lot of resentment towards the USfrom poor countries. Birdsall says Africa undoubtedly deserves afairer deal with regard to trade from Washington. ?There are some good steps that aredifficult, politically, that could be very positive and actually would havevery limited impact on US businesses and American workers who are concernedabout too much free trade,? she comments. Opponents of allowing African goods into theAmerican market with little restriction argue that certain countries in Africaalready enjoy preferential access to the US, and that this is more thansufficient. But Birdsall disagrees. She says these arrangements, which arecalled preferences, aren?t permanent and ?have to be renewed from time to time?which hinders Africa?s efforts to do profitable business with America. ?They do not provide the kind of comfort andconfidence that investors, both domestic and foreign, like, say, in Cambodia,or Bangladesh, or in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, would like in orderto give them incentives to invest and develop industries that would then exportto the very rich US market.? Birdsall says one of her ?major?recommendations to the new president would therefore be ?to make out of tradepolicy something that is actually a development-oriented policy, by saying thatsome countries should have easy access to our market.? She advises the next administration to?select a group of countries ? there might be a dozen or more ? who haveresponsible governments, who clearly are making an effort to meet the needs oftheir people, and who are very poor, and to guarantee them what we callduty-free, quota-free access to the US market. That means, guarantee themaccess without any of the tariffs, or any of the limits on their imports, thatthey now face.? Birdsall saysinitiatives that help developing countries improve the United States?international image, which she?s convinced is in serious need of repair. Shesays this will be one of the main tasks for the new man in the Oval Office. ?I think Americans areaware that the US has certainly lost its shine in the rest of the world in thelast eight to ten years?. Attitude surveys suggest there?s been a decline inthe respect that people all over the world have for the US.? The Bush administration saysit has been widely praised for several foreign aid initiatives that prove itscommitment to the poor and enhance its reputation as the biggest aid giver inthe world. As Birdsall herself acknowledges, the Bush government can rightlypoint to its provision of ?100 per cent debt relief? to 30 of the world?spoorest countries and its increase of foreign aid, from $12.6 billion in 2001to $23 billion in 2006. In addition, the Bush government has also establishedtwo major new aid programs, the Millennium Challenge Account and thePresident?s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Birdsall praises theseinitiatives, but still believes United States has ?sort of lost respect? inrecent years ?because we didn?t seem to be honoring our own democraticprinciples, because our military strength was being dissipated in Iraq, becauseour model of open, global capitalism seems to have failed.? She explains that thecurrent financial crisis in the U.S., which some economists say is already arecession and may eventually evolve into a depression, will ?come to be seen asa final blow to what many people in especially developing countries see as theUS (economic) model? and that this represents another setback for the US?s?fragile? reputation. Sheconcludes that while the challenge for the new president will be ?very great?in terms of rebuilding the US?s image, he can begin immediately by declaringhis commitment to the development of poor countries, and expanding upon the?wonderful work? already being undertaken by America in this regard.