Tag: IMF
Development assistance has adapted to circumstances, but China looms
Friday February 12 Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service convened the Transatlantic Policy Symposium (TAPS), an annual conference organized by the graduate students of the BMW Center for German and European Studies. The conference brought together academics and professionals from around the world to discuss transatlantic cooperation and development assistance in the developing world. Speakers and their affiliations are listed below:
Speakers
Dr. Anne-Marie Gulde Wolf: Deputy Director for Asia and Pacific, International Monetary Fund
Eric Kite: Deputy Director, Caribbean Affairs, United States Agency for International Development
Helga Flores Trejo: Vice President, Global Public Affairs International Organizations, Bayer AG
Recent Changes in Development Assistance
Each of the three panelists elucidated key changes among their respective institutions with regards to development assistance. Kite explained that USAID traditionally engaged primarily in bilateral, state-to-state assistance programs. Over time, however, multilateral organizations have grown dramatically and now dwarf the size of USAID. The US government has correspondingly shifted its development assistance from bilateral to multilateral frameworks.
Gulde Wolf emphasized that the IMF has likewise changed its strategic focus over the years. While the IMF’s original mission consisted largely of short-term loans and financing, by the 1980s the IMF began to offer more long-term loans to low-income countries and increased its emphasis on capacity building and technical assistance, understanding that no amount of loans are sufficient if countries fail to also develop good economic policy. The IMF now has three major areas of interest
- emergency lending to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has provided assistance to 50 countries to date,
- developing sound macroeconomic policy to address global climate change,
- debt management and debt restructuring in low-income countries to address a long-term debt crisis that the pandemic has exacerbated.
Flores Trejo also noted several recent changes in the development sphere. She echoed the sentiments of Kite that development has become more cooperative and partner-based. To that end, the private sector–including NGOs, foundations, and corporations–has become increasingly involved in major development programs around the world. Development actors have begun to see their work more holistically, including linking development to foreign and defense policy, as well as an understanding that successful development requires a global approach. Uneven development will ultimately be counterproductive.
Partnership and Development Assistance
Given that development programming has become more holistic and more diverse, the panelists also reflected on the problems and promises of partnership across institutions.
Flores Trejo in particular reflected on the importance of governments cooperating and partnering with the private sector to implement development programs. She pointed to the most recent iteration of the Edelman Trust Barometer, which indicates a major decline in public trust for both the government and the media. Notably, however, companies and the private sector writ large have a higher degree of public trust than government, which can potentially bridge the credibility gap by partnering with the private sector to implement programming.
Kite similarly stressed the importance of cooperation for USAID. He emphasized that local actors in partner countries are crucial for both information gathering and implementation. However, he also argued that USAID has traditionally cooperated best with organizations and countries that have shared values. China, however, has posed a unique problem for the US as it has dramatically increased its own development assistance in direct opposition to the strategic interests of the US.
Gulde Wolf argued that the IMF has been uniquely successful at working collaboratively to address development issues. She attributed the organization’s success in this area in large part to the near universal membership of the IMF, which encourages broad partnership. Like Kite, she also believed that the emergence of China as a major development actor has presented challenges to the debtor-creditor relationship. However, she also clarified that the IMF has little ability to address these particular emerging challenges.
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Peace Picks | June 15 – 20
Notice: Due to recent public health concerns, upcoming events are only available via live-streaming.
- A Conversation with H.E. Anwar Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs | June 17, 2020 | 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM | Middle East Institute | Register Here
As the second largest Arab economy- with a burgeoning regional role in the Gulf, the Red Sea and North Africa- the United Arab Emirates is facing a range of domestic and regional challenges, but also opportunities, in light of COVID-19 and the drop in global oil prices. Furthermore, the rise in great power competition, particularly the rising role of Russia and China in the Middle East, makes an examination of US – UAE relations that much more timely and important.
To discuss these important issues and more, the Middle East Institute is glad to welcome H.E. Dr. Anwar Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. Please join us for this timely discussion moderated by MEI President Paul Salem.
Speakers:
Dr. Paul Salem (Moderator) : President, Middle East Institute
H.E. Dr. Anwar Mohammed Gargash: Cabinet Member and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, United Arab Emirates
- COVID in South Asia: Regional Responses | June 17, 2020 | 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM | United States Institute of Peace | Register Here
In South Asia, diverse, densely situated, and economically precarious populations add further complexity to fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Measures to limit the virus’s spread have spurred massive economic contraction, disproportionately affecting the region’s most vulnerable populations, while recent steps to re-open economies are fueling a rise in cases and risk overwhelming health and governance systems. The crisis has also exacerbated societal fissures and structural problems, including religious, caste, and ethnic divisions, ineffective communication, and political tensions. Amid compounding challenges, how governments respond to the pandemic will have a lasting impact on the region’s stability and the future of its nearly two billion citizens.
Please join USIP and experts from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka for a discussion on states’ responses to the coronavirus pandemic across the region and what countries can do to maintain and restore their economies, health systems, and citizens’ trust in elected officials.
Speakers:
Amb. Tariq Karim: Former Bangladeshi Ambassador to the U.S.
Amb. Maleeha Lodhi: Former Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S. and former Pakistani Ambassador to the U.N.
Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu: Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, Sri Lanka
Amb. Arun Singh: Former Indian Ambassador to the U.S.
Tamanna Salikuddin (Moderator): Director, South Asia, U.S. Institute of Peace
- Lebanon at a Crossroads: Is Real Reform Possible? | June 17, 2020 | 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Carnegie Endowment of International Peace, Middle East Center | Watch Event Here
Lebanon remains a highly volatile sociopolitical and economic environment, compounded by a crippling financial crisis, a large protest movement nationwide, increasing tension among political and sectarian factions, and a large presence of Syrian refugees. Its vibrant civil society has played a leading role in pushing for reform to address the significant threats facing the country.
While the unprecedented mass demonstrations that began in October 2019 succeeded in pressuring the government of then-prime minister Saad Hariri to resign, they have yet to lead to the radical change that many protestors are seeking. As Lebanon continues to flatten the coronavirus curve and as the country opens up again, the protest movement is largely expected to make a comeback, with protestors again voicing demands for an independent judiciary, accountability, early parliamentary elections, and financial reform—among others.
Speakers:
Maha Yahya: Director, Carnegie Middle East Center
Lara Bitar: Founding editor, The Public Source
Alia Ibrahim: Founding partner and chairwoman, Daraj
Jean Kassir: Co-founder and managing editor, Megaphone
- Egypt Faces the Pandemic: Politics, Rights, and Global Dynamics | June 18, 2020 |10:00 AM – 11:15 AM| Carnegie Endowment for International Peace | Watch Event Here
In many countries, the pandemic is providing justifications for crackdowns on rights, changes in law, and postponement of elections. What is happening in Egypt? And will the pandemic lead to any changes in its regional and global relationships?
Speakers:
Khaled Mansour: Independent writer and consultant on issues of human rights, humanitarian aid, and development
Mai El-Sadany: Managing director and legal and judicial director, the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy
Amr Hamzawy: Nonresident Senior Fellow, Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Senior Research scholar in the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, Stanford University
- Civil-Military Relations Amid Domestic Crisis | June 18, 2020 | 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM | Johns Hopkins SAIS | Register Here
The speakers will address the politicization of the U.S. military and urgent issues of civil-military relations in the current environment. With President Trump’s order of the U.S. military and federal law enforcement to Washington DC; the forcible removal of peaceful protestors to secure a photo op with military leaders; and Secretary Esper’s reference to American cities as the “battlespace,” the divide between society and service members has rarely been so stark.
The speakers will also examine the implications of President Trump’s recent actions on U.S. national security, both domestically and abroad. What are the various ways the current situation could play out? What are the medium- and long-term implications on civil-military relations? To what standard must we hold our senior civilian and military officials, as well as our service members?
Speakers:
Eliot A. Cohen: Dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS
Mara Karlin: Executive Director, Merrill Center for Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins SAIS
Paula Thornhill: Associate Director, Merrill Center for Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins SAIS
LTG David Barno (USA, ret.): Senior Fellow and Visiting Professor, Merrill Center for Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins SAIS
Nora Bensahel: Senior Fellow and Visiting Professor, Merrill Center for Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins SAIS
- Webinar—The International Monetary Fund’s COVID-19 challenge: A conversation with Geoffrey Okamoto | June 18, 2020 | 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | American Enterprise Institute | Register Here
The coronavirus pandemic has plunged the global economy into its worst recession in the past 90 years and has delivered a severe blow to practically every economy in the world.
At this event, Geoffrey Okamoto, the first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will discuss how the IMF now views the world economic outlook and how it is adapting its policies to serve best its membership at this challenging time.
Speakers:
Geoffrey Okamoto: First deputy managing director, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Desmond Lachman: Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
- Troubled Waters: the Changing Security Environment in the Black Sea | June 18, 2020 | 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | Middle East Institute | Register Here
NATO member states and partners in the Black Sea have entered a new strategic adaptation phase after the annexation of Crimea and the subsequent focus on territorial defense. The last six years have been a challenge in strategic adaptation to new threats and challenges in the Black Sea, an increasingly militarized and volatile security environment. But success in adaptation has been limited by differing threat perceptions among member states, as well as by difficulties integrating Western defense planning. The Middle East Institute (MEI) Frontier Europe Initiative is pleased to host a panel of experts to discuss the challenges facing the Black Sea countries in adapting to the new security environment.
What are the main challenges for NATO member states and partners in the Black Sea region? How have NATO member states Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey adapted to increasing militarization and volatility in the Black Sea? What are the main challenges for NATO partners countries Georgia and Ukraine and how are they progressing in Western security integration? Are there lessons to be learned for NATO defense and strategic adaptation in the Black Sea?
Speakers:
Stephen J. Flanagan: Senior political scientist, RAND Corporation
Thomas-Durell Young: Senior lecturer, Institute for Security Governance, US Naval Postgraduate School and Journal of Defense and Security Analysis
Iulia Joja (Moderator): Senior Fellow, Middle East Institute, Frontier Europe Initiative
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Stevenson’s army, April 19
– Public approval of Congress has soared to a level [30%] not seen since 2009. The bipartisan effort on the pandemic seems to be the explanation. In recent years the approval level has wavered between 9-15%.
-Administration trade policy is complicating public health measures.
– FP explains why Trump administration blocked increase in IMF Special Drawing Rights.
– NYT says CIA may cut its presence in Afghanistan to help save Taliban peace deal.
– Atlantic has a chapter on China policy from forthcoming book by H.R. McMaster.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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