This morning, The State newspaper showcased Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) continued leadership to protect American security. Sen. Graham said “I’m a Ronald Reagan Republican. I would like to shape worldly events rather than watch the world fall apart. That means you have to be engaged.”

Must Reads

USGLC in the News

Foreign aid serves U.S. interests (Kathleen L. Flanagan, Baltimore Sun)

The recent Republican presidential candidate debate in Las Vegas put a new spotlight on the issue of U.S. spending on foreign aid, although it may have escaped the notice of many (“Republicans take off gloves in Vegas debate,” Oct. 19). Times are tough and Americans need to understand why it is vital that we continue to send development aid overseas: It increases jobs here in the U.S. and keeps our homeland safer.

Who’s In the News

Graham fights to save foreign aid programs (James Rosen, McClatchy Newspapers)

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who’s taken on tough tasks from immigration reform to climate change, faces another one as he calls for spending billions of dollars overseas on unpopular foreign aid programs that he insists are vital to U.S. national security. With Congress facing mandatory spending cuts and previously sacrosanct military programs on the chopping block, Graham is trying to protect funding for foreign aid even as most Americans oppose it – 71 percent in a recent poll – and other Republican leaders call for focusing U.S. resources at home.

Smart Power

Two Cheers for the Malaria Vaccine (Editorial, The New York Times)

A vaccine to protect children against malaria has been shown moderately effective in a large clinical trial — an achievement that could save millions of lives. The vaccine, known as RTS,S and made by GlaxoSmithKline, is the first ever to be shown effective against a human disease caused by parasites.

Foreign aid shouldn’t be first thing on the chopping block (Matthew Wallin, The Hill’s Congress Blog)

In this fiscal climate, recent debates have brought a growing amount of attention and support to the notion that the U.S. foreign aid budget should be cut.  Many Americans, concerned that the government is spending their hard-earned tax dollars abroad when there are so many pressing issues at home, argue that we need to take care of ourselves before we take care of others. There is validity to the argument.  After all, how can someone help others if they themselves are bed-ridden?  Why should we as a country spend tens of billions on foreign aid when our infrastructure crumbles and the government is desperately seeking ways to reign in our spending?  The answer is: it is in our national interest to do so.

Afghanistan: proof that untied aid really works (Scott Glimore, The Guardian)

Donors have promised, and largely failed, to truly untie aid. International development spending continues not to go to those who need it the most. But an experiment in Afghanistan is showing that aid money spent locally is a highly effective way to create jobs. As the Guardian has reported, tied aid remains a stubbornly persistent component of international assistance.

 

Politics/Foreign Policy

Clinton warns Iran not to ‘miscalculate’ U.S. resolve as troops leave Iraq (N.C. Aizenman, Washington Post)

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Iran on Sunday that the planned U.S. withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq by the end of the year should not be mistaken for a lack of commitment to democracy in the region.  In an interview from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, her last stop on a four-nation tour of the region, Clinton conceded that Iraq’s stability is not ensured.

Are the Republican candidates not taking Herman Cain seriously? (Michael Gerson, Post Partisan)

About a thousand conservatives filled the hall Saturday at the state fairgrounds for the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition candidate forum. In some states, this largely evangelical crowd would be political outsiders.  In Iowa, religious conservatives have been the most influential element of the Republican Party since the late 1980s. Some Tea Party activists and Ron Paul supporters were also in attendance — the Paul supporters pointedly refusing to applaud when support for Israel was mentioned.

Turkey Earthquake: Ankara Refuses Foreign Aid, As Death Toll Climbs (International Business Times)

The death toll from the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Turkey on Sunday has exceeded 270 people, but search-and-rescue teams are pulling more and more survivors out from under the rubble of crushed buildings and collapsed houses…But Turkey refused aid from Israel and dozens of countries including Greece and Armenia, hoping that their domestic rescue efforts will be enough.