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Contributions from
the Column
Monitor
Sudan: fragmented and neglected
IMF: US pushes for refom of voting rights
Good grades for German Technical Cooperation
10th Bremen Solidarity Prize
World Press Photo 2005
Wolfowitz’ difficulties at the World Bank
US administration modifies development approach
UN peacekeepers accused of corruption
Cooperative without Borders treads new paths
Afghanistan: new support and old criticism
03/2006
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[ US development aid ]
Bush administration
announces far-reaching reforms
The Bush administration wants to make sweeping reforms of the USA’s development assistance. The changes announced by State Secretary Condoleezza Rice in January relate to both the institutional structure and the content of US foreign aid. In future, one person with the ranking of deputy secretary of state will oversee and coordinate all programmes of the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Furthermore, this person will also head USAID and be responsible for drafting an overarching policy including the development-related activities of other departments. Randall Tobias, the current head of the US programme fighting AIDS, has been nominated for the new double-position.
In terms of content, Rice wants to gear future development assistance more towards “transformational diplomacy”, a notion which has been the declared basis of foreign policy under President Bush for some time. According to Rice, thousands of soldiers have been appointed and billions of dollars have been spent in Afghanistan to avert the risk of terrorism and to liberate the population. “We must now use our foreign assistance to help prevent future Afghanistans – and to make America and the world safer,” Rice stated when she publicly announced the new development approach. According to media reports, Rice was unhappy since taking office with the fragmented US approach to development, which funds spent on a multitude of programmes within and outside of the State Department.
Critics, however, fear that USAID may become even more subordinate to the administration’s foreign policy in future. An editorial in the New York Times claimed the new USAID director could be under tremendous pressure “to divert [money] to the State Department’s geopolitical goals, which have little to do with development”. Carol Lancaster, a former deputy director of USAID, argued in the Financial Times that the current reform “will not solve the problem of organisational mayhem and is likely to weaken the mission of USAID”. In her view, the reform is likely to lead to merging the agency with the State Department, even though no such intention has been expressed.
In response to the question of whether USAID will remain independent, a State Department spokesperson said: “Well, we’re making sure that AID and State are aligned.”
To some extent, the Bush administration itself has brought about the bemoaned fragmentation. During George W. Bush’s first term, for example, he established a billion-dollar programme to fight AIDS independently of USAID. He also set up the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a new agency for cooperation with developing countries embarked on reform. Carol Lancaster proposes merging USAID with the MCC, which has never really gained momentum and has only disbursed a fraction of the funds initially promised. That merger would really strengthen US development assistance, according to Lancaster.
In December, USAID Director Andrew Natsios announced his resignation, citing as the reason a university position he could not resist. It is, however, no secret that Natsios was often unhappy with administration decisions relating to development. He disliked both the establishment of the AIDS programme and of the MCC. After his resignation, Natsios spoke out in favour of creating the position of an independent Development Department in the USA, which would be in charge of all assistance programmes, according to an article in the New York Times. Such ministries headed by cabinet members exist in Germany and Britain. (ell)
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