Who’s Calling the Shots for Development and Diplomacy?
A year ago, the USGLC released the Global Plum Book, outlining the 100 most-likely influential political-appointee positions on development and diplomacy. Now, nearly one year later, the USGLC is pleased to unveil our Updated Global Plum Book—a unique online catalogue of over detailed profiles of the key players that have filled many of these positions (and some newly created positions).
Not surprisingly, the Updated Global Plum Book includes dozens of individuals who have strong records of commitment to elevating development and diplomacy and many individuals that were part of the USGLC’s Impact ’08 effort. The list includes cabinet officials such as Vice President Biden, Secretary of State Clinton, Secretary of Defense Gates, and UN Ambassador Rice who all participated in USGLC events in the past year and have years of expertise and support for a smart power foreign policy. The list also includes senior Administration officials such as Jim Jones, Larry Summers, Lael Brainard, Gayle Smith and many others that endorsed our Impact ’08 statement. The newest addition is of course the USAID Administrator, Dr. Raj Shah, who was sworn in on January 7, which is why so many of the USAID political-appointees are still vacant.
There are several positions that were not part of the original Global Plum Book but have been added in this updated version including Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack – an important player in food security, and Special Envoys such as Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and former Senator George Mitchell now overseeing other strategic programs.
The individuals listed in the Updated Global Plum Book are leading an impressive effort on multiple fronts to evaluate and strengthen development and diplomacy. Working closely with the career officials, many of the Plum Book appointees are involved in the Presidential Study Directive on Global Development; the Quadriennel Diplomacy & Development Review; food security initiative; global health initiative; women and girls efforts and many other far-reaching programs and reviews.
USGLC’s Updated Global Plum Book is designed to act as a one-stop shop for the development and foreign policy communities. Unlike other, more cumbersome guides to the overwhelming U.S. government, the Updated Global Plum Book is a catalogue exclusively devoted to foreign-policymaking. It includes sections on the Departments of Defense, State, Commerce, Energy, Education, Treasury, and Health and Human Services; the National Security Council; the Office of Management and Budget; the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; the United States Agency for International Development; the Central Intelligence Agency; the White House, and more. Each individual section shows the seniority within the organization, from the Cabinet Secretary down to the implementers.
We hope you find the Updated Global Plum Book useful. Capitalizing on the success of our first one, this update is also organized by the original categories of policymakers, managers, influencers, and implementers.
Check out the USGLC Global Plum Book now!
