The Foreign Service Journal, April 2005

10 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / A P R I L 2 0 0 5 Foreign Aid Gets a Boost in FY 2006 Budget In the Bush administration’s FY 2006 budget proposal released Feb. 6, humanitarian and development assis- tance is one of the few nondefense areas to see growth. The total “150 Account” request of $33.63 billion is a 13-percent increase over FY 2005 for international affairs. The funding request for the Department of State is $9.82 billion, with $4.47 billion for diplomatic and consular programs. Embassy security, construction and maintenance will maintain its funding at $1.5 billion, reflecting the prioritization of the global war on terror. Overall, the budget request provides $690 million in worldwide security upgrades to increase security for diplomatic per- sonnel and facilities in the face of ter- rorism, according to State’s “The Budget in Brief” ( http://www.state. gov/m/rm/c6112.htm ). Included in the funding for securi- ty upgrades is provision for adding 55 security professionals, and the budget for the Border Security Program pro- vides for 55 new consular positions. Elsewhere, the request includes $57 million for 221 new positions to meet core staffing and training require- ments, among them staffing for the new office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization and a rapid response corps. New staffing is also aimed at improved training in hard languages, such as Arabic, and expanded capabil- ities in counterterrorism financing, weapons control and information sys- tems security. Some new positions will strengthen U.S. diplomatic pres- ence on the ground in Afghanistan, Sudan and Libya, and at four regional centers in Iraq. Funding for contributions to inter- national peacekeeping activities will be stepped up from $483 million to $1 billion to provide for projected U.S. assessments for U.N. peacekeeping missions, including new U.N. mis- sions in Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire and Haiti, as well as a possible new mis- sion in Sudan/Darfur. The State budget request also includes $328 million for public diplo- macy programs, and another $439 million for educational and cultural exchanges, including $100 million earmarked for the Partnerships for Learning initiative to reach younger and more diverse audiences, includ- ing those in the Muslim world. The foreign operations budget request for $22.82 billion includes a doubling of funding for the Millen- nium Challenge Corporation, from $1.5 billion to $3 billion. In addition, the Economic Support Fund and the Global HIV/AIDS Initiative were each boosted by about $600 million, to $3 billion and $1.97 billion respectively. For updates on the budget process as it proceeds during the coming months, see the Web site of the Coalition for American Leadership Abroad ( www.colead.org ). CFR Launches New Bipartisan Foreign Policy Initiative The Council on Foreign Relations announced a new initiative Feb. 18 to promote foreign policy consensus across the aisle in Congress and between Congress and the adminis- tration in the wake of last November’s divisive presidential campaign ( www. cfr.org ). “We consider it part of our mission to help bridge differences and facili- tate conversations that will lead to a better foreign policy than either side could produce working on its own,” says Nancy E. Roman, CFR vice pres- ident and director of the Washington Program, who is overseeing the initia- tive. Plans to establish bipartisan con- versation in and around the Capitol include a monthly meeting for mem- bers of Congress and chiefs of staff to review the critical foreign policy issues of the day; salon-style dinners in both New York and Washington aimed at bringing together top officials, past and present, from both parties to dis- cuss policy issues ranging from WMD proliferation to global disease; pro- C YBERNOTES I have such great admiration for Foreign Service officers, and he, Negroponte, has been one of the top Foreign Service officers we’ve had in a long time. … These career diplomats are good. — Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., on the nomination of Ambassador John D. Negroponte as director of national intelligence, in an interview with Jim Lehrer, www.pbs.org/newshour/, Feb. 17, 2005.