The Foreign Service Journal, February 2011

40 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 1 gion. EEB also plays a key role in adjudicating applications for liquids pipelines crossing the U.S. borders to and from Canada and Mexico. In addition, EEB plays a key role in the Global Hunger and Food Se- curity Initiative to reduce poverty and hunger through agricultural growth and food security. The key aims are to accelerate inclusive agriculture sector growth through improved agricultural productivity and expanded markets for small holders’ produce, as well as to improve nutrition. We work with missions in Africa, Asia and Latin Amer- ica to develop country-led plans that comprehensively ad- dress the underlying causes of hunger and undernutrition and promote longer-term, sustainable agricultural devel- opment. The United States has also pledged at least $3.5 billion to improve food security, agricultural production and nutrition in approximately 20 countries as part of the “Feed the Future” program. State economic officers in Wash- ington and overseas are key players in ensuring a policy en- vironment favorable for these vital assistance programs. The bureau is also pursuing biotechnology to promote U.S. agricultural exports and meet the needs of a growing global population, while mitigating the environmental chal- lenges of climate change. Since 2002, EEB has invested between $350,000 and $500,000 a year in outreach to pro- mote acceptance of biotechnology. This program has low- ered barriers to biotech grain in China, ended piracy of biotech soybeans in Brazil, facilitated the commercializa- tion of biotech maize in the Philippines and Egypt, and opened access for U.S. agricultural biotechnology to east- ern and southern Africa via the Common Market for East- ern and Southern Africa. These efforts collectively represent billions of dollars in sales of U.S. agricultural products. Promoting Telecommunications and Cybersecurity Research conducted by the International Telecommu- nication Union indicates that a 10-percent increase in the number of fixed telephone lines increases a country’s gross domestic product by around 0.5 percent, while the same increase in mobile phone lines increases it by 0.7 percent. Evenmore remarkably, a 10-percent increase in broadband penetration can boost GDP by an average of 1.3 percent. Aware of this great potential, the department is working to help de- veloping countries realize the ben- efits of new communications tech- nologies. For instance, we recently completed a nine-year undersea fiber optic cable project that in- cluded Micronesia and the Mar- shall Islands, and are currently leading an interagency effort to support the development of Iraq’s communications technology sector. While championing an open, global Internet, we have also consistently stressed the importance of keeping its in- frastructure secure in dealings with such multilateral or- ganizations as the ITU, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Asia-Pacific Eco- nomic Cooperation forum. We are making the same pitch for cybersecurity to bilateral partners. With Mexico, for instance, we are negotiating the development of an exten- sive cross-border communications network that will bring together federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement and public safety organizations. The department’s economic team is also working to ad- dress critical telecommunications needs related to disas- ter response, recovery and rebuilding — particularly in developing nations overwhelmed by crises — through en- gagement with private-sector technology leaders and in- teragency colleagues. Last July we hosted a telecommuni- cations industry round table on Haiti relief and recon- struction to share information about U.S. efforts and facil- itate coordination among private stakeholders and with Washington in future disaster recovery efforts. The Importance of Economic Diplomacy America’s leadership has long stood on a foundation of economic strength, but our dominance can no longer be taken for granted. More than ever before, economic and commercial issues are reshaping the global landscape and new, dynamic financial and population centers are driving change. With those trends in mind, the Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs seeks to be a force multiplier for the integrated application of the diplomatic and eco- nomic instruments of American power. All our outreach is intended to preserve the United States’s role as a stew- ard of an open international system that encourages trade and investment and promotes good governance. F O C U S The BRIDGE Initiative is a great illustration of the close relationship between EEB and embassies.