Putting Smart Power to Work “Report on Reports” Release – March 4, 2009
With nearly 1,000 people in attendance or watching the live webcast, the USGLC marked the release of its new report with a speech by Deputy Secretary of State Jacob Lew and a panel discussion moderated by PBS’ Judy Woodruff. Panelists included former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Congressman Jim Leach (R-IA), U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Ambassador Wendy Sherman, a Principal at the Albright Group LLC.
Delivering his first public address after the President’s FY2010 topline budget request was released, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Jacob Lew told attendees at the Center’s “Putting Smart Power to Work” report launch there is still much work to be done. “The effort to win resources for international funding is not a short or an easy one,” Lew said, “We’re in the most difficult domestic economic times or our lifetimes. The fact that we were able to get this kind of commitment of resources in the president’s budget just underscores how important an issue this is to the administration. But unless we’re successful in the Congress, we won’t be able to implement the program.
As the panelists considered the global challenges facing the country, they applauded the recommendations set out in the Center’s report. Among the most important actions, though, is increased resources, Secretary Powell noted. “When I became secretary of state,” Powell recounted, “I said, no, we’re not going to do any more reports, we’re not going to summarize anything; we’re going to go up to Congress and fight like dogs to get money because we could have a lovely chat here about all of this stuff, but I’m telling you, it comes down to trench warfare with the Congress.”
Recognizing the state of the economy, Ambassador Wendy Sherman stressed the importance of making a strong case for these investments to the American people, suggesting, “We need to help the American people know that we really are in an era where an ounce of prevention will save enormous money down the road, that if we are to help people grow their middle classes, those middle classes, as Senator Menendez said, create markets for our jobs, for our growth, for the ability of American families to have a stronger checkbook.”
“Putting Smart Power to Work” The Report on Reports:
After analyzing over 20 reports and 2,000 pages created by a diverse group of over 500 expert contributors from various institutions, the Center has released “Putting Smart Power to Work: An Action Agenda for the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress.” This report distills these wide ranging proposals into an extraordinary bipartisan consensus that America must strengthen its civilian capacity as a critical component to our national security.
Despite coming from all over the ideological spectrum, the reports collectively demonstrated a remarkable bipartisan agreement that many of the security threats facing the United States today do not lend themselves to traditional military and security approaches, and the new Administration must use new, or previously underutilized, tools to address these challenges more strategically. “Putting Smart Power to Work” identified seven priority actions for President Obama and Congress to consider for successfully implementing a “smart power” approach to global engagement:
1. Formulate a comprehensive national security or global development strategy that articulates and elevates the role of development and diplomacy alongside defense;
2. Increase substantially funding and resources for civilian-led agencies and programs, especially through USAID and the State Department;
3. Elevate and streamline the U.S. foreign assistance apparatus to improve policy and program coherence and coordination;
4. Reform Congressional involvement and oversight, including revamping the Foreign Assistance Act;
5. Integrate civilian and military instruments to deal with weak and fragile states;
6. Rebalance authorities for certain foreign assistance activities currently under the Department of Defense to civilian agencies;
7. Strengthen U.S. support for international organizations and other tools of international cooperation.
For a more in-depth analysis and greater detail on how to implement these recommendations, click here to read the report.
[...] Wednesday, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, an MFAN partner organization, launched its “Putting Smart Power to Work” campaign by hosting Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Jack Lew, State [...]