As a new Congress gets into gear, both Republicans and Democrats have a solemn duty to do the people’s work and to make sure their taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely. U.S. foreign assistance is already under the microscope, as it should be, but we believe policymakers should focus on making it better instead of slashing budgets. Foreign assistance accounts for less than 1% of our federal budget, and our investments in it can pay real dividends for the cost.
The world has changed dramatically even in the last decade, becoming more interconnected and full of challenges that defy narrow solutions. Our foreign assistance is a projection of our responsible leadership in the world; it is more important than ever to our security and economic interests. We must take the politics out of this debate and get down to the facts.
In terms of our national security, we provide extensive counter-terrorism and counterinsurgency assistance to “frontline states” such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen. These civilian-led programs help build and train national army and police forces, support democracy and the rule of law, and improve destitute living conditions that can fuel extremism and anti-American sentiment.
Military leaders from Secretary of Defense Gates to Joint Chiefs Chairman Mullen to Afghanistan Commander Petraeus have issued strong calls for strengthening civilian programs that take some of the burdens off of our war fighters, with Gates saying recently that helping countries develop “is a lot cheaper than sending soldiers.”
Done right, our foreign assistance is also a key driver of helping these developing markets mature and become better places for U.S. exports and investment. Developing countries have the fastest growing economies in the world, and they are the next frontier for American businesses and products. We exported $510 billion worth of goods and services to developing countries in 2009, and the number is growing exponentially. For every 10% increase in exports, we received a 7% boost in employment at home, and 97% of businesses that benefit from exports are small-and-medium-sized enterprises. The more we do to help keep people healthy and give them the tools they need to thrive, the better these market opportunities will be.
We acknowledge that foreign assistance is in need of serious reform, but progress has been made and we must build on it. The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), created by President George W. Bush, is helping responsible allies grow their private sectors and empower their citizens with economic freedom. U.S. foreign assistance has been directly responsible for saving more than five million Africans from the grip of deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria, thanks to President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and Malaria Initiative, as well as the work of churches, business leaders, and average citizens across the country.
In releasing America’s first-ever foreign assistance policy last year, President Obama made economic growth the key goal of our outreach efforts and said that the time has come to be more selective about our assistance, because the U.S. cannot do everything, everywhere, particularly in places that do not share our values of free people and free markets. At the same time, Dr. Rajiv Shah, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has undertaken significant reforms to improve the agency by decreasing inefficiencies, increasing transparency, and in the process delivering millions of dollars in savings.
But perhaps the most important idea of all, shared by both the Bush and Obama administrations, is that the mission of U.S. foreign assistance is to put itself out of business by helping build vibrant private sectors and middle classes, thriving civil societies, and more efficient local governments that are accountable to citizens. This is the way to put the people we are trying to help in control of their own development.
Tremendous progress has been made in addressing the conditions of despair that lead to extremism, containing the spread of pandemic disease, and creating the kinds of economic opportunities that lead to greater global stability. In a world that is shrinking — with fewer borders and growing interdependencies, less isolation and greater shared challenges — more effective foreign assistance can lead to real dividends in terms of our security, our prosperity, and our leadership in the world. We hope that bipartisan policymakers will come together to strengthen U.S. foreign assistance and our global leadership.
Mark Green, a former Republican Member of Congress from Wisconsin and Ambassador to Tanzania, is Managing Director of the Malaria No More Policy Center. Jim Kolbe, a former Republican Member of Congress from Arizona, is a Senior Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and a Senior Advisor to McLarty Associates. Rob Mosbacher, a former President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), is Chairman of the Mosbacher Energy Company of Texas.
