The Foreign Service Journal, June 2010

J U N E 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 9 State, Aspen Launch “Partners for a New Beginning” On April 27, the State Department and the Aspen Institute ( www.aspen institute.org ) announced a joint ini- tiative, “Partners for a New Begin- ning,” to realize the vision articulated by President Barack Obama in his June 4, 2009, speech in Cairo of “a new be- ginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and respect.” The announcement of the new ini- tiative was a highlight of the April 26- 27 Presidential Summit on Entrepre- neurship ( www.state.gov ) . The gath- ering sought to identify ways to deepen ties among business leaders, founda- tions and entrepreneurs in the U.S. and the Muslimworld, as Pres. Obama promised in the Cairo speech. Introduced officially by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the PNB is chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, with Aspen Institute President Walter Isaacson and Coca-Cola Company Chairman Muhtar Kent as vice chairs. “The Aspen Institute’s Middle East Programs’ achievement in facilitating public-private partnerships will push forward a new beginning for the U.S. and the Muslimworld by building mu- tual interest and investment in entre- preneurship, science and technology, education and cultural understanding,” Isaacson stated at the launch, noting that Aspen is already facilitating work in emerging markets around the world. Waiting for the QDDR Back in July 2009, the State De- partment and the U.S. Agency for In- ternational Development announced the launch of the Quadrennial Diplo- macy and Development Review ( www.state.gov ). Its release, origi- nally intended for early this year to in- fluence the Fiscal Year 2011 budget process, is now slated for September. Meanwhile, Presidential Study Di- rective 7, a review focused on “global development policy” and viewed by State as complementary to the QDDR, is under way at the National Security Council. The two groups have been holding regular consultations. The lat- est, on April 23, attempted to lay the ground for finalizing both the PSD and a QDDR interim report. Instead — according to Foreign Policy ’s Josh Rogin, who tracks this issue in his blog, The Cable — sub- stantial disagreement remained on a number of issues. There is frustration on Capitol Hill over the delay and a perceived lack of consultation with the two teams. “What is important about this is that Congress isn’t waiting for the adminis- tration to wade through the QDDR and PSD processes and come out with its plan,” one Hill source who declined to be identified told blogger Laura Rosen ( www.politico.com ). “We think foreign aid reform is essential to ensure funds get to the people who need them and is done right.” In early April, the House Commit- tee on Foreign Affairs and Senate Committee on Foreign Relations re- leased a joint paper on “peacebuild- ing.” The HCFA expects to issue more concept papers in the coming weeks, followed by foreign assistance reform legislation during the summer. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has marked up the For- eign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 containing a clause mandating a national develop- ment policy. However, it is likely that substantive reform will have to wait until the 112th Congress convenes next year. C YBERNOTES W ith the first BlackBerry president, we discussed the power of new technology to empower activists and entrepre- neurs across Africa, part of a new rising generation that’s boosting growth and governance and defying stereotypes. — Bono, commenting on his April 30 meeting with President Barack Obama, www.one.org/c/us/ pressrelease/3312/