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21. The politics of foreign aid

Author:
Liz Schrayer
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
In 2011, as the annual budget resolution hit the Senate floor, multiple amendments were offered to cut the foreign assistance account. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky offered the most dangerous amendment to cut billions from the International Affairs Budget. While it was defeated, it still garnered 20 votes. In the intervening years, Senator Paul offered similar amendments—but his final effort in 2015 was different. It was soundly defeated by a 96-4 vote.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Global Focus

22. Institutional architecture of U.S. foreign aid

Author:
George Ingram
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
“Bureaucratically fragmented, awkward, and slow, its (foreign aid) administration is diffused over a haphazard and irrational structure... The program is based on a series of legislative measures and administrative procedures conceived at different times and for different purposes and many of them obsolete, inconsistent, and unduly rigid and thus unsuited for our present needs and purpose.”—President John F. Kennedy’s Special Message to the Congress on Foreign Aid, March 22, 1961, that led to the enactment of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the establishment of United States Agency for International Development.
Topic:
Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Global Focus

23. Handle with care: The challenge of fragility

Author:
Nancy Lindborg
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Despite enormous gains in poverty reduction and a long, steady drop in global violence over the past 70 years, progress is stubbornly stalled in those states considered most fragile. In the last de- cade, rising levels of violent con ict in states and regions like Syria, South Sudan, Yemen, Libya, Nigeria and East Africa have spawned four civil wars, the specter of four famines, and historic numbers of people displaced by violence, all of which are straining the global humanitarian sys- tem and threatening precious development gains. The world has responded with ever-larger pack- ages of humanitarian, military, and peacekeeping action. What remains missing, however, is a concerted focus on the underlying dynamics of fragility, which will ultimately require a different way of doing business and, importantly, a shared blueprint for action among political, security, development, and humanitarian actors.
Topic:
Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Global Focus

24. Multilateralism under stress

Author:
Homi Kharas
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The multilateral development system, led by the United States, has guided development cooperation by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, evolving gradually through new institutions and new norms since World War II. Organized by a small group of like-minded countries, multilateralism has been a way of managing burden-sharing among donors and of delivering public goods. These functions are now under stress. According to a poll conducted in December 2016 by the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland, most Americans (59.3 percent) support the statement that “when giving foreign aid, it is best for the U.S. to participate in international efforts, such as through the United Nations. This way it is more likely that other countries will do their fair share and that these ef- forts will be better coordinated.” However, a majority of Republican voters disagree, believing that it is better for the U.S. to provide aid on its own, to ensure control over how money is spent and to gain recognition for its generosity.
Topic:
International Trade and Finance and Global Political Economy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

25. American public support for foreign aid in the age of Trump

Author:
Stephen Kull
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Is President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy a reflection of a larger isolationist trend in public attitudes? And what do Americans think about foreign aid in particular? The answer is complex. On the one hand, recent polls suggest a robust majority support an engaged U.S. role in the world, a moral dimension to U.S. foreign policy, and giving foreign aid, especially humanitarian aid. On the other, many are dissatisfied with America’s role in the post-Cold War era, and Trump has effectively played on that disillusionment. The U.S. is seen as having overextended itself in playing a hegemonic role in the world, a role that has served corporate interests and the wealthy, but that has not effectively served the middle class, which is largely footing the bill for it. This overextension is seen as being reflected in the U.S. budget deficit, which troubles the public more than the elites.
Topic:
International Affairs and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:
Global Focus

26. Unpacked: US NAFTA renegotiations

Author:
Joseph Parilla
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Brookings Fellow Joseph Parilla discusses the renegotiation of NAFTA 25 years after its creation and explains the importance of NAFTA to the U.S. economy at both the national and local level.
Topic:
International Political Economy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
America and Global Focus

27. Delivering inclusive access:

Author:
Jeffrey Gutman, Adie Tomer, Thomas J. Kane, Dev Patel, and Ranjitha Shivaram
Publication Date:
08-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Across the world, rapid urban growth offers enormous opportunity to those living in cities and suburbs. Urban residents tend to earn higher incomes than their rural peers, and enjoy the benefits of living in closer proximity to vital services and commerce. However, the same influx of people and economic activity also places enormous pressure on the built environment, straining existing transportation systems across the developed and developing world. In turn, residents and businesses increasingly struggle to reach one another, and they often place a premium on locating in neighborhoods with the greatest urban access. In other words, people want to live where it is easy to reach key destinations. This can drive up the price of land and contributes to a toxic mix of income inequality and spatial inequity.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

28. Meeting U.S. Deterrence Requirements

Author:
Robert Einhorn and Steven Pifer
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
In conducting its Nuclear Posture Review, the Trump administration needs to consider how best to meet U.S. deterrence requirements in a changing security environment. Today’s most pressing challenges to U.S. deterrence goals come not from the threat of a massive nuclear attack against the U.S. homeland but from the possibility that nuclear-armed adversaries will use the threat of escalation to the nuclear level to act more aggressively in their regions and prevent the United States from coming to the defense of its allies and partners.
Topic:
International Security
Political Geography:
Global Focus

29. Back from the Brink Toward Restraint and Dialogue between Russia and the West

Author:
William Perry and Deep Cuts Commission
Publication Date:
06-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
This report contains a number of bold proposals on how to better manage relations between the West and Russia in order to avert worst-case scenarios. Specifying that cooperative solutions are pos- sible without giving up on the fundamental interests of each side, it warrants a close look by officials in both Moscow and Washington.
Topic:
International Relations, International Cooperation, International Security, International Affairs, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
Russia, America, Europe, and Global Focus

30. The post-2015 agenda and the evolution of the World Bank Group

Author:
Homi Kharas
Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The Addis Ababa Action Agenda reaffirms the central role of development banks in providing concessional and non-concessional long-term financing, countercyclical financing, guarantees and leverage, policy advice, capacity building, and other support to the post-2015 agenda. "We recognize the significant potential of multilateral development banks and other international development banks in financing sustainable development and providing know-how. We stress that development banks should make optimal use of their resources and balance sheets, consistent with maintaining their financial integrity, and should update and develop their policies in support of the post-2015 development agenda, including the sustainable development goals (SDGs)."
Topic:
Development, International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, United Nations, and World Bank
Political Geography:
Global Focus