The Foreign Service Journal, May 2010

funded development cooperation in- stitutions. This long history of experimenta- tion in organizing the administration of foreign assistance and development cooperation reflects many of the issues still being debated today. In their 1954 book, Prelude to Point Four — Ameri- can Technical Missions Overseas 1838- 1938 , Merle Curti and Kendall Birr conclude that the origins of these early technical missions had much to do with their eventual success or failure. They found that technical cooperation motivated by scientific curiosity had an excellent chance of success, while mis- sions initiated by foreign governments had better chances, at least when they started. In contrast, activities designed pri- marily to serve U.S. interests were viewed with suspicion or resistance by foreigners. Even altruistic activities designed to benefit other societies met similar resistance, because it was diffi- cult to convince others of their altru- ism in the short term. Proper administration was a key factor, though even the best-run mis- sions showed a mixture of accomplish- ments and failures. A good many clearly aided large parts of the popula- tion. Most, however, improved the po- sition of relatively small groups. The complex relationship between agricultural and health conditions was highlighted in the 1930s when James Thorp, the Department of Agricul- ture’s senior soil technologist in China, pleaded unsuccessfully for the dissem- ination of birth-control information as the only method of keeping the popu- lation within the bounds of soil pro- ductivity. For Curti and Birr, it was clear as early as 1954 that if the previous cen- tury of American experience with for- eign cooperation was neglected or overlooked, and previous mistakes were repeated, Point Four would turn out to be one more grand scheme that failed. Fortunately, many of those les- sons were learned and incorporated into the design of subsequent U.S. for- eign cooperation institutions. It is not surprising that today our country is once again engaged in an overhaul of its foreign development cooperation. This continues our his- tory of increasing coordination, institu- tional development and capacity-build- ing for ever-larger scales of effort. The institutional innovations that enabled billions of dollars of private-sector sup- port during the 1800s, WorldWar I re- lief efforts and the Marshall Plan are all prime examples. As has always been true, building on the foundation of previous reforms and innovations is the best way to cre- ate institutions to meet future chal- lenges. ■ M A Y 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 49