What do American businesses need to compete in today’s global marketplace? A recently released report by the Department of Commerce, entitled “The Competitiveness and Innovative Capacity of the United States,” looks at the factors that have spurred U.S. economic growth in the past, and that could help jump start a new era of competiveness for [...]
Uncertainty about Egypt’s future is high these days, with political violence marring the parliamentary elections less than a year from the initial events that led to the removal of Hosni Mubarak. [...]
It is less than a month until the first U.S. presidential primaries, but the past few weeks have seen momentous elections in some of the Arab Awakening countries, including Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco. [...]
Last weekend’s Republican Presidential candidates’ debate sparked controversy and provoked reactions in the media in the days following that highlighted the critical role that foreign assistance plays in advancing U.S. national interests.
With the recent elections in Tunisia and end of the war in Libya, the peoples in North Africa have an opportunity to build a hopeful future that values the principles of freedom and liberty. At the same time, the U.S. has an opportunity to promote democracy and stability, and avoid the rise of regimes as [...]
In today’s highly fraught political climate, it is easy to assume that all issues are black and white—especially when it comes to government spending. Every federal dollar is coming under increasing scrutiny, and one area facing some tough cuts right now on Capitol Hill is foreign assistance. However, there exists a long tradition recognizing how [...]
Government-to-government assistance programs have changed dramatically since World War II from tools of Cold War diplomacy to instruments to promoting global economic growth. Our current systems of delivering assistance needs to take this new dynamic into account, as do our decisions about funding development assistance. This was part of a message delivered by President of [...]
For years, the holy grail of foreign assistance reform has been a re-write of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, widely seen to be outdated and cumbersome. After 2008, then-Chairman of House Foreign Affairs Committee Howard Berman (D-CA) began to work on such a reform bill. Control of the House of Representatives switched in 2010 [...]
President Obama, Congress, the 2012 Republican candidates for President and the American public have all acknowledged that the United States must get our fiscal house in order and reduce the federal budget deficit. But this house cleaning shouldn’t entail shuttering the windows and bolting the door to the world. The recent debt-reduction deal has made [...]
The role of business in development has sparked much debate recently, but what does it mean? For some it translates into corporate social responsibility, with business helping the local communities abroad as a gesture of good citizenship. Others see the potential for partnerships where the result is good not just for local communities abroad, but [...]
