The Future of U.S. Assistance to Egypt
August 22nd, 2008 by Adam
In the context of the recent sentencing of Saad Eddin Ibrahim to two years in prison, in large part for recommending the conditioning of U.S. military aid to Egypt on political reforms, Scott Carpenter at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy has written an interesting piece about the future status of U.S. assistance to Egypt. Carpenter concludes that the Mubarak regime’s “resolute failure to live up to its human rights obligations” will undermine support for economic assistance to Egypt and increase the desire within Congress to condition military aid on political and economic reforms.
Posted in Egypt, Foreign Aid, US foreign policy | Comment »
POMED Notes: Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan: Challenges in the Fall and Beyond
August 6th, 2008 by Sarah
Today, the Brookings Institution hosted foreign policy experts Kenneth Pollack, Bruce Riedel and Jeremy Shapiro for a discussion on the state of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as U.S. efforts to partner with Pakistan in confronting al Qaeda. Kenneth Pollack is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Bruce Riedel is Director of Research at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, and Jeremy Shapiro is a Senior Fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy and Director of Research at the Center on the United States and Europe. Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institution moderated the event.
Riedel called for the U.S. to “clearly stand behind the new democratically-elected government” in Pakistan, while Pollack recommended that the U.S. aggressively engage Iran in order to best serve our interests in the region.
For POMED’s full notes, click here.
Posted in Afghanistan, Elections, Event Notes, Foreign Aid, Iran, Iraq, Legislation, Pakistan, Terrorism, US foreign policy, al-Qaeda | Comment »
Saad Eddin Ibrahim Receives Prison Sentence
August 4th, 2008 by Sarah
Saad Eddin Ibrahim, prominant Egyptian dissident and member of POMED’s Board of Advisors, has been sentenced to 2 years in prison, after an Egyptian judge found that Ibrahim’s writings had harmed the country’s reputation. Ibrahim has urged President Bush and Congress to tie financial aid to Egypt to democractic reform, and has accused President Hosni Mubarak of manipulating the country’s peaceful relationship with Israel, as well as fears of Islamist extremism, to keep U.S. aid flowing.
In response to his sentence, Ibrahim states, “my real crime is speaking out in defense of the democratic governance Egyptians deserve.”
Blake Hounshell at FP Passport argues that despite the fact that Ibrahim has a lot of admirers on Capitol Hill, that “with the [Bush administration’s] ‘freedom agenda’ long dead, perhaps Hosni Mubarak’s government….thinks it can get away with it.”
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Egypt, Foreign Aid, Freedom, Islamist movements, Muslim Brotherhood, POMED, US foreign policy | Comment »
POMED Notes: Subcommittee Hearing: Update on the Situation in Lebanon
July 30th, 2008 by Sarah
Yesterday, the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs invited Jeffrey Feltman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs in the U.S. Department of State to discuss the current political situation in Lebanon in light of the recent Doha Agreement. Feltman welcomed the election of President Sulieman and the formation of a new cabinet under Prime Minister Siniora, and reiterated President Bush’s policy of non-engagement with Hizbullah and Syria.
Rep. Gary Ackerman made opening remarks.
For POMED’s full notes, click here.
Posted in Elections, Event Notes, Foreign Aid, Hezbollah, Iran, Lebanon, Political Parties, Syria, US foreign policy | Comment »
New Plans for Pakistan
July 30th, 2008 by Sarah
As Pakistan’s new civilian prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani visits Washington this week, an editorial in the New York Times urges President Bush to prove “that he is committed to strengthening both Pakistan’s democracy and its ability to fight extremism.” This is especially important as “Mr. Gilani’s constituents deeply resent the United States for propping up and enabling their former dictator, Pervez Musharraf.”
Along those lines, the newspaper advises Congress to pass legislation introduced by Senators Joseph Biden and Richard Lugar that would provide long-term increases in economic assistance to Pakistan and tighter monitoring of American military assistance.
Posted in Foreign Aid, Military, Pakistan, US foreign policy | Comment »
POMED Notes: “Democratic Development in the Middle East and North Africa”
July 29th, 2008 by Adam
Today, the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), the Middle East Institute (MEI), and Americans for Informed Diplomacy (AID) hosted a discussion with representatives from three conferences sponsored this spring by POMED and AID, in which young Middle Eastern and American leaders developed and ratified policy recommendations on how to improve America’s impact on Middle East reform. The participants included Erika Spaet and Sara Ait Imoudden from the Rabat Conference, Dina Elshinnawi and Mohamed Sabbah from the Cairo Conference, and Emily Crawford and Tharwat Alazab from the Amman Conference.
For POMED’s complete notes on the discussion, click here.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Event Notes, Events, Foreign Aid, Reform, US foreign policy | Comment »
A New Relationship?
July 28th, 2008 by Adam
An editorial in the New York Times suggests that President Bush use this week’s visit to Washington by Pakistani Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, to open a new chapter in U.S.-Pakistan relations. This new chapter must make clear the U.S. is committed to consolidating Pakistani democracy and fighting extremism, which can be demonstrated by providing substantially more economic and social aid as well more monitored military aid. The editorial concludes, “That way, Pakistan will have reliable funding for future social programs and be able to focus American military aid on counterterrorism. It is an imperfect solution but could be the start of a better relationship — one that promotes democracy and the fight against Al Qaeda.”
Posted in Foreign Aid, Pakistan, Reform, US foreign policy | Comment »
POMED Notes: Senate Markup of State, Foreign Operations Bill
July 18th, 2008 by Stephen
Yesterday afternoon, the full Senate Appropriations Committee held a session to markup three of the annual appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2009: for State and Foreign Operations, Agriculture, and Defense. The markup of the State and Foreign Operations bill, which contains all funding for foreign assistance and nearly all funding for other international affairs programs, was considered rather quickly and approved by a 28-1 vote.
The bill grants $36.62 billion, which represents a $3.82 billion increase over the levels granted for FY08, but just over $1 billion less than the President’s budget request for FY09. Of note was the sharp reduction in funding for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, down from more than $1.5 billion a year ago to only $254 million to cover administrative costs. The committee has not yet released the full text or all details of the bill, but they have made available a summary of key points on their website.
For POMED’s notes on yesterday’s markup, click here.
Posted in Congress, Congressional Hearing Notes (Senate), Foreign Aid, Legislation | Comment »
Calling for Consistent Foreign Aid
July 16th, 2008 by Sarah
Andrew Sweet and Natalie Ondiak at The Center for American Progress have released a report examining how inconsistent U.S. foreign aid has undercut long-term security needs in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Liberia, Sudan and Ethiopia. While aid spikes during crisis, the U.S. fails to invest in “preventing crisis before they occur or to consolidate progress when crisis subside.”
For the full report, click here.
Posted in Afghanistan, Foreign Aid, US foreign policy | Comment »
Military Officers Support Use of Diplomacy and Development
July 16th, 2008 by Sarah
The Center for U.S. Global Engagement has released the result of a survey of active duty and recently retired (post-9/11) military officers and their attitudes toward the use of military and non-military tools to enhance U.S. national security.
According to the poll, a strong majority (80%) believe the use of non-military tools, including diplomacy, food, support for health, education, and economic development programs, are important to achieving national security objectives.
64% agree that the U.S. should put equal emphasis on military and non-military tools to address threats to national security. Of those who preferred one over the other, more supported strengthening non-military tools.
In addition, a strong majority (77%) agreed that world opinion of the U.S. makes a lot of difference to the effectiveness of the military overseas.
For the full results, click here.
Posted in Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, Military, Public Opinion, US foreign policy | Comment »
Gates Calls For Diplomacy and Foreign Aid
July 16th, 2008 by Sarah
Breitbart.com reports that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates calls for greater funding for US diplomacy and foreign development aid, noting the rising importance of nation building. “It has become clear that America’s civilian institutions of diplomacy and development have been chronically undermanned and underfunded for far too long — relative to what we traditionally spend on the military, and more importantly, relative to the responsibilities and challenges our nation has around the world.”
Posted in Diplomacy, Foreign Aid, Military, US foreign policy | Comment »
Improving Pakistani Aid
July 16th, 2008 by Adam
The Boston Globe reports on a recently introduced bill (S.3263) by Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Joe Biden (D-DE) that would provide 7.5 billion dollars in aid to Pakistan over five years. The proposed bill would differ from previous aid packages to Pakistan as it directs more funding towards social and economic development, while holding the military more accountable for the funding it recieves. The bill, which has great support in Washington and Islamabad, intends to strengthen the two nations’ bilateral relationship by helping consolidate Pakistani democracy, moving away from a solely military-to-military relationship, and making Pakistani military aid conditional.
Posted in Foreign Aid, Military, Pakistan, Reform, US foreign policy | Comment »
BBG Responds to Iran Democracy Programming Criticism
July 14th, 2008 by Stephen
Last week, POMED posted a link to this article by Jason Leopold at the Public Record, criticizing programs funded by the State Department’s Iran Democracy Fund as lacking transparency and undermining true reform efforts in Iran.
Since then, we received the following email from the Broadcasting Board of Governors as a response to Leopold’s piece:
We offer a correction to Jason Leopold’s July 11 article, “State Department’s Iran Democracy Fund Shrouded in Secrecy.”
The piece reports that: “Congress has appropriated more than $120 million to fund the project. The State Department has spent most of the money on the U.S.-backed Radio Farda, Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe, and to broadcast Persian programs into Iran via VOA satellite television.”
In fact, these broadcasts are funded through the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the independent federal agency that oversees U.S. international broadcasting. While broadcasting to Iran was part of the Administration’s FY 2006 State Department supplemental request to support democracy in Iran, Congress appropriated $36.1 million directly to the BBG to enhance existing programming of the Voice of America and RFE/RL’s Radio Farda to Iran. The BBG is fully accountable to the Congress for the expenditure of these funds.
The article also states that: “The State Department has said it intends to spend $1.2 million of those funds to launch Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Azerbaijani in an effort to address the lack of objective and comprehensive news and information for Azerbaijanis, the largest ethnic minority group in Iran.” This is not correct. The BBG’s pending budget request with the Congress for FY 2009 asks for funding to begin programming to the large Azeri-speaking population of Iran.
Appreciate your help setting the record straight.
Sincerely,
Letitia King
Director
Office of Public Affairs
Broadcasting Board of Governors
Posted in Foreign Aid, Iran, US foreign policy | Comment »
Controversial Funds for Democracy Promotion in Iran
July 10th, 2008 by Adam
At the Public Record, Jason Leopold examines the State Department’s controversial “Democracy Program” to promote democracy, civil society, and human rights inside Iran. Leopold asserts that the money has been shrouded in secrecy with some of the money going to Iranian exile organizations in order to establish relationships with opposition groups. He also argues that the money is not having its desired effect as civil society and human rights organizations have rejected the funds as they believe it will taint their ability to bring change from within. Furthermore, such funds are described as having heightened Tehran’s insecurity and allowing them to justify crackdowns on opponents by citing foreign subversion.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Foreign Aid, Iran, US foreign policy | 1 Comment »
British Aid to Pakistan
July 8th, 2008 by Adam
The BBC reports that British aid to Pakistan will double over the next three years, with a new emphasis on education in order to address root causes of extremism. Britain will also shift its focus to the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA), which has been used as a base for Taliban attacks in Afghanistan. The focus on education will attempt to help Pakistan’s ineffective education system and undercut the influence of madrassas that teach a rigid form of Islam.
Posted in Foreign Aid, Pakistan, Reform | Comment »
From Failing to Functional
July 1st, 2008 by Adam
The Economist takes a closer look at Ashraf Ghani and Clare Lockhart, both of whom advise nations on how to make the leap from a failed to functioning state. The international community has failed to help this transition by either veering “between two unsatisfactory extremes: imposed solutions tinged with a colonial or imperial flavour, and the hands-off neglect of ‘interested observers.’” Additionally, the authors cite the failures of the international aid system. “All too often, it is an obstacle to change rather than a catalyst.”
Posted in Foreign Aid, Reform | Comment »
House Passes Supplemental Spending Bill
June 20th, 2008 by Adam
On Thursday the House of Representatives passed the latest version of H.R. 2642, the long debated supplemental spending bill. The domestic spending measure passed by an overwhelming 416 to 12. The amendment containing the $161.8 billion in war funding passed by a vote of 268 to 155. The bill requires that State Department and USAID reconstruction aid be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Iraqi government. Furthermore, the bill prohibits the use of military construction funds to establish permanent bases in Iraq. The Senate is expected to pass the bill before Congress goes into its Fourth of July recess.
Posted in Congress, Foreign Aid | Comment »
Hands Tied on Foreign Aid
June 18th, 2008 by Sarah
In The Hill, Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) paints a dark picture for those advocating for significant changes to U.S. foreign policy. “Major foreign policy changes will largely be determined by budgetary processes and bureaucratic inertia,” and “the [next] president will find his hands tied on foreign aid. Congressional support for international affairs spending is waning.”
Posted in Election 08, Foreign Aid, US foreign policy | Comment »
Foreign Aid needs a Makeover!
June 12th, 2008 by Sarah
The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, a new network of leading think tanks, NGOs, advocacy groups, and academics, has released a report recommending a new national development strategy, a new Foreign Assistance Act, streamlined organizational structure and capacity, and increased funding and accountability for foreign assistance.
MFAN launched the proposal yesterday on Capitol Hill. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, Senator Chuck Hagel on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Rep. Nita Lowey, chairwoman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Foreign Operations, all spoke of the urgent need to modernize foreign assistance.
To read MFAN’s full report, click here.
Posted in Foreign Aid, Reform, US foreign policy | Comment »
The effect of Rising Food Prices
June 9th, 2008 by Sarah
The Hudson Institute, as part of its Pew Briefing Series on Democracy, invited Rod Hunter, Raj Desai, Robert Paarlberg, and Andrew Natsios to address how unprecedented food shortages threaten fragile governments and opening the door to anti-democratic forces.
Rod Hunter is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute. Raj Desai is a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Professor of International Development at Georgetown University. Robert Paarlberg is Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College and Andrew Natsios is Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. Amy Kauffman, Director of the Hudson Pew Briefing Series on Democracy, moderated.
For POMED’s full notes, click here.
In related news, The International Herald Tribune criticizes the U.N. for failing to act and recommends that industrialized countries “deliver on their promise to end the fat subsidies they provide their farmers” which has depressed food prices and discouraged investment in agriculture across much of the developing world.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times and New York Times see this crisis as a golden opportunity for the U.S. to rebuild its “shattered global leadership credentials.”
Over the weekend, there was another bread riot in Egypt and food shortages are occurring in Afghanistan.
Yet Yusuf Mansur in the Daily Star argues Jordan it is unlikely that there will be riots in Jordan.
Posted in Afghanistan, Egypt, Event Notes, Foreign Aid, Jordan, POMED | Comment »
