The Foreign Service Journal, October 2009

O C T O B E R 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 9 Waiting for Godot at USAID On Aug. 12, foreign aid guru, Har- vard professor and medical doctor Paul Farmer confirmed the expectations of many observers by bowing out of con- sideration for the position of Adminis- trator of the U.S. Agency for Inter- national Development. An experienced practitioner of for- eign health and development assis- tance, with extensive on-the-ground experience in Haiti, Rwanda and else- where, Dr. Farmer had seemed an im- possibly well-qualified candidate for the position. Now, with his graceful exit to become the U.N. deputy special envoy to Haiti under former President Bill Clinton, fears for USAID’s pros- pects in the Obama administration have grown. Many blame the White House’s sluggishness in selecting a nominee for Farmer’s exit (http://kristof.blogs.ny times.com/2009/08/10/update-on- paul-farmer-and-usaid/ ). Even Sec- retary of State Hillary RodhamClinton commented that “the clearance and vetting process is a nightmare, and it takes far longer than any of us would want to see” ( http://thecable.foreign policy.com/posts/2009/07/13/clin ton_complains_of_nightmare_ve tting_process ). But that issue is only a lightning rod for more deep-seated concerns. Many see the inability to fill the post, empty for an unprecedented seven months now, as a sign of the administration’s failure to deliver on its commitment to advance foreign aid ( www.thedaily beast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009- 08-15/can-usaid-survive-without-a- leader/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsR2 ). Strong leadership is required to do this. Without it, as Senator Richard Lugar, R-Ind., ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Com- mittee, wrote in an Aug. 8 letter to the Washington Post , “President Obama’s pledge to double foreign assistance would be like adding a third story to a house that had a crumbling founda- tion.” Institutional atrophy and a loss of expertise at USAID have seriously compromised the effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance, as three former ad- ministrators acknowledge in their com- prehensive review of the agency and its mission, “Arrested Development: Making Foreign Aid a More Effective Tool,” in the November-December 2008 issue of Foreign Affairs ( www. aplu.org/NetCommunity/Page.asp x?pid=1075 ). The only way to correct this, say An- drew Natsios, J. Brian Atwood and M. Peter McPherson, is to re-establish USAID as the vital, autonomous and authoritative leading agency for Amer- ican foreign assistance — whether as an entity within State or as a new fed- eral department devoted to develop- ment. Sen. Lugar’s Foreign Assistance Re- vitalization and Accountability Act of 2009, introduced in late July with Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and a group of bipartisan co-sponsors, would give USAID the lead role in strengthening the capacity, transparency and ac- countability of American foreign assis- tance activities ( www.opencongress. org/bill/1/111-s1524/show ). The leg- islation is now in committee. In a related development, at a July 10 State Department town hall meet- ing Sec. Clinton announced the launch of a “Quadrennial Diplomacy and De- velopment Review” modeled on the Department of Defense’s Quadrennial Defense Review ( www.state.gov/sec retary/rm/2009a/july/125949.htm ). Clinton said she hopes, foremost, that the review will move State away from year-by-year planning to focus on overarching goals, and that this will C YBERNOTES W ithout a strong administra- tor, USAID’s voice will be lost in the current interagency debate. — Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., Letter to the Editor, Aug. 9, www.washingtonpost.com