Today, USAID and outside experts, including USGLC’s own Mark Green, will come together at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. to discuss how 1% of our federal budget builds stronger economies, saves lives, and protects our borders. Join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #WhyForeignAid and watch the live webcast here. Tomorrow, the House will take up a continuing resolution to keep the government running through November 18.

Must Reads

USGLC in the News

The Clinton doctrine of economic statecraft: Clinton moves to put economics at center of U.S. foreign policy agenda (Laura Rozen, The Envoy)

Clinton explained the logic behind the new economic initiatives recently in Hong Kong. “As we pursue recovery and growth, we are making economics a priority of our foreign policy,” Clinton said at the International Institute for Strategic Studies-Shangri La conference in Hong Kong in July. “Because increasingly, economic progress depends on strong diplomatic ties and diplomatic progress depends on strong economic ties. And so the United States is working to harness all aspects of our relationships with other countries to support our mutual growth.” “All of us here today recognize that a strong economy at home is vital to America’s leadership in the world,” Clinton similarly told the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition conference in July, before sounding a retrospective note about her tenure at State. “After spending two and a half years as your Secretary of State, traveling nearly 600,000 miles, I have reached one overarching conclusion: Simply put, we need to up our game.”

The Power of 1%: What Americans Get for Investments in Global Health (Press Release, Market Watch)

At an event in Washington, D.C., USAID, FHI 360, ONE, PATH, PSI and World Vision will launch The Power of 1% to highlight the economics of global health, and the benefits U.S. investments overseas have for Americans at home. While many Americans may not recognize the link between US foreign investment and jobs at home, experts say it is a fact of the modern economy. According to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, the fastest growing markets for American goods are developing countries–representing roughly half of all U.S. exports and supporting 1 in 5 American jobs. By creating healthy communities and working conditions, we can halt the billions of dollars in lost productivity every year and turn that capacity into a market that will drive future growth. By establishing links to these consumers today, we can effectively position American companies to sell them goods tomorrow.

Who’s in the News

Kirk: Libya Won’t Need U.S. Help (Humberto Sanchez, Roll Call)

Sen. Mark Kirk said he doesn’t expect the Libyan government to need any foreign assistance from the United States, and he predicted that fighting in Libya will likely end next month. “Libya does not need foreign assistance funding from the United States” the Illinois Republican said in a conference call today from Malta after visiting Libya and speaking with Transitional National Council officials. “Libya is the formal owner of over $100 billion in assets seized from [former Libyan leader Moammar] Gadhafi.”

Economy to Be a Challenge for New Military Chief (Thom Shanker, New York Times)

After his Senate confirmation as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey knew he had some catching up to do before being sworn in last Friday as the nation’s highest-ranking officer and the principal military adviser to the president and secretary of defense. General Dempsey said in an interview, he realized he needed a better understanding of the economy, which seemed likely to define his tenure in the way that counterterrorism, counterinsurgency and combat preoccupied his predecessors over the past decade. During General Dempsey’s term, a significant challenge will be how best to care for the military and protect the United States’ national security interests with drastically fewer Defense Department dollars.

NPR Turns to Public Television for New Leader (David Folkenflik, NPR)

NPR’s board of directors announced Sunday that it had dipped into the world of public television for its new president and CEO: Gary E. Knell, chief executive of the company behind the beloved children’s show Sesame Street. A lawyer, Knell will arrive at NPR equipped with some political savvy as well. Three decades ago, he served as a committee counsel to Senate Democrats. More recently, Knell says, he collaborated with Republicans such as Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on childhood obesity issues and was appointed by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the U.S. National Commission on UNESCO.

Smart Power

We Can’t Just Play Whack-a-Mole in the War on Terror (Jamie M. Fly & Evan Moore, National Review Online)

Awlaki’s killing by an unmanned U.S. aerial drone coincides with recent reports that the Obama administration is establishing a constellation of drone bases for counterterrorism operations against both AQAP and Somalia’s al-Qaeda linked group, al-Shabaab. Such efforts are praiseworthy, but in the end they will not be enough to successfully prosecute the Global War on Terror. In the wake of Awlaki’s and Osama bin Laden’s deaths, many policymakers may be tempted to believe that the War on Terror has already been won — or can be won by video-game-like drone strikes or counterterrorism raids that require minimal manpower. In reality, the only lasting solution to situations like the one we face in Yemen is eventually ensuring that the host country can prevent its territory from becoming a safe haven for these terrorist organizations.

State Dept. reeling from budget cuts (Walter Pincus, Washington Post)

Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of state in its Bureau of Political Military Affairs, told a meeting last week of the Center for New American Security that the hefty cuts will compromise national security. He noted that the 2012 funding bill for State Department and foreign operations was cut 8 percent by the full Senate Appropriations Committee and a whopping 18 percent by the House Appropriations State and Foreign Operations subcommittee. The Senate committee on Sept. 21 approved $44.6 billion for the core State, Foreign Operations budget for next year, which was $6 billion below the original request and $3.5 billion below the current level. The House subcommittee approved $39.5 billion, slashing the administration’s request by $11.2 billion, or 22 percent.

Politics/Foreign Policy

Panetta Warns Israel Is Getting More Isolated, Says Negotiations With Palestinians Must Restart (Associated Press

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Sunday that Israel is becoming increasingly isolated in the Middle East, and said Israeli leaders must restart negotiations with the Palestinians and work to restore relations with Egypt and Turkey. “But the question you have to ask: Is it enough to maintain a military edge if you’re isolating yourself in the diplomatic arena? Real security can only be achieved by both a strong diplomatic effort as well as a strong effort to project your military strength.”

Larger deal may elude deficit panel (Manu Raju & John Bresnahan, Politico)

A month into the supercommittee’s term, Senate Republicans are telling K Street that they don’t believe the powerful deficit-cutting panel can reach a “grand bargain” agreement, sources familiar with the negotiations say. In a closed-door meeting with Republican lobbyists late last week, senior policy advisers representing both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his chief deputy, Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), who sits on the special deficit panel, said the issue of tax increases may be an insurmountable obstacle in the secretive talks.