Global Washington Debates How to Redefine Development

February 10, 2009 | Tom Vogel

KRISTI HEIM
The Seattle Times
February 10, 2009

Washington state is in the soft power business. Dozens of local organizations involved in global affairs have a stake in defining the U.S. role in the world, and they’re calling for an overhaul of some basic principles.

They’re hoping to influence policy in the other Washington to focus on more equitable, efficient and sustainable development as the Obama Administration sets its budget and priorities.

One area that needs changing most is foreign aid, participants at a Global Washington forum on Monday agreed.The current Foreign Assistance Act, all of 417 pages, contains programs to attack the Soviet threat and address disasters in Nicaragua and Pakistan that ended in the 1970s, said Jenni Rothenberg, field director of the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign. With 140 priorities and 400 directives, it’s complex and cluttered without any clear road map.

The campaign, whose leadership includes local charities such as PATH, Mercy Corps and World Vision, along with Boeing and Microsoft, is advocating for a strong international affairs budget. The administration’s current international affairs budget proposal for fiscal 2009 is $39.8 billion, about 1.3 percent of the total budget request, according to the campaign.As the U.S. has been involved in two wars, the military role in development has grown significantly, said U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (D-Tacoma).

The Defense Department “moved into what was traditionally the State Department’s lane,” Smith said. Now it’s in over its head in some places and needs to work cooperatively with more civilian experts in a broader mission. But as for getting the military out of the business of development entirely, “it’s not going to happen and it’s not desirable,” Smith said.

Foreign investment and trade will play a key role, but the U.S. needs a new approach to that as well, he said.