Top business leaders from around the country created this cutting-edge new report demonstrating how U.S. global leadership helps American businesses grow and create jobs here at home. This new report, entitled “U.S. Global Leadership: A Strategic Investment in U.S. Jobs”, illustrates how in today’s global economy, America must invest in development and diplomacy to open new markets to U.S. businesses and create jobs here at home. The report was crafted after extensive research and strategy sessions by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s Economic Working Group, co-chaired by Bill Lane of Caterpillar and John Murphy of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Representatives of some of the top companies in the world, including Boeing, GE, Walmart, Procter & Gamble and many more were a part of the discussions.

Interactive Booklet | PDF Document

The International Affairs Budget funds the majority of America’s civilian foreign policy programs – diplomatic relations with other countries, security assistance to allies and strategic partners, trade and economic relationships with the global community, health clinics and schools in the developing world, and humanitarian relief efforts in the wake of natural disasters. These programs are critical to advancing America’s national security and economic interests and sustaining American leadership in the world.  Check out some of the achievements of the International Affairs Budget and why these are wise investments for America.

Interactive Booklet | PDF Document

After analyzing over 20 reports and 2,000 pages created by a diverse group of over 500 expert contributors from various institutions, the USGLC 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. To take a closer look at the specific policies examined in creating “Putting Smart Power to Work,” the USGLC has put together a matrix of the eight areas considered in the analysis.A comprehensive list of the reports and papers used in this report can be found in the appendix.

Report on Reports | Matrix | Appendix

For each Administration the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Government Reform releases the official “Plum Book” identifying the nearly 8,000 presidential appointments within the federal government. To that end, the USGLC released its own version, known as the “Global Plum Book” identifying the key 100 appointed positions which are most significant in impacting global health, global development and diplomacy. Take a look at the USGLC’s “Global Plum Book” to see the positions in which it is critical the appointees share Obama’s vision for global engagement.

Global Plum Book

The USGLC commissioned a poll in 2010, which finds nearly 90 percent of active duty and retired military officers agree the tools of diplomacy and development are critical to achieving U.S. national security objectives and a strong military alone is not enough to protect America. 83 percent of the military leaders also say humanitarian efforts such as food assistance, and health, education, and economic development along with diplomacy are important to our national security. Findings from the poll also show a clear call for increased resources for the International Affairs Budget to prevent conflicts from happening and provide support to military efforts around the world. Read More

Read Major Findings from the Poll

In 2008, the USGLC released a poll of post-9/11 military officers conducted by the bipartisan polling team of Geoff Garin (Peter D. Hart Research Associates) and Bill McInturff (Public Opinion Strategies). In a memo on the poll results, Garin and McInturff wrote, “Eighty-four percent (84%) of officers say that strengthening non-military tools such as diplomacy and development efforts should be at least equal to strengthening military efforts when it comes to improving America’s ability to address threats to our national security.”

Survey of Post-9/11 Military Officers’
Views on Global Engagement