Lugar, Slaughter, Others Agree Report Outlines Next Steps for Smart Power

Washington, DC — The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) today released its Report on Reports, a Smart Power Agenda for Advancing America’s Global Interests, detailing a broad consensus around six key drivers to shape, elevate, and reform U.S. global development and diplomacy and advance America’s interests in the world.

Analyzing over 30 reports from across the political spectrum, the Report on Reports provides a roadmap of bipartisan actions taken since 9/11 to elevate development and diplomacy and lays out how to make investments in our civilian programs most effective and efficient.

The six priority actions to strengthen America’s leadership to advance our global interests include:

1. Strengthening Civilian Power: Greater U.S. civilian capacity to keep our nation safe and ensure we have the ability to advance our core national security and economic interests.
2. Ensuring Results-Driven Development: Renewed focus and commitment to effective, results-driven development applying data measurements and innovation for greater impact.
3. Leveraging the Private Sector: A strong call to strategically enhance public-private partnerships to create the enabling environment for scalability.
4. Maintaining Sufficient Resources: Heed the growing message from military and business leaders that the United States cannot afford to disproportionately underfund the civilian side of our national security.
5. Improving Coordination Among the Players: Streamlining the interagency process to improve coordination, clarity of leadership, and consistency in U.S. foreign policy.
6. Prioritizing: Focus on the things we do best and establish priorities to maximize impact.

Here’s what key foreign policy leaders are saying about the Report on Reports:

Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), 1977-2013:
“There is strong bipartisan agreement that our foreign assistance tools are critical to protecting our national security and advancing our interests in the world.  The recommendations in this report build on the great work done over the past decade to make these programs even more effective in meeting the challenges we face in the world today.”

Anne-Marie Slaughter, State Department Director of Policy and Planning, 2009-2011:
“This report outlines progress we’ve made in being more strategic about U.S. leadership in the world and a way forward to prioritize what we’re doing right in development and diplomacy.”

Ambassador Paula Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, 2001-2009:
“President Bush prioritized foreign assistance as an essential component of our national security, and innovative programs like PEPFAR and MCC transformed the way we deliver assistance.  The recommendations in this report build on these successes as we make our programs even more effective and essential to our foreign policy.”

Henrietta Fore, USAID Administrator 2007-2009:
“The resources we invest in foreign assistance provide a tremendous return for the American people, and we must continue to focus on results and increase the quality and number of development experts and diplomats we have around the world to address the challenges our nation faces.”

In 2009, the USGLC released its first Report on Reports, encouraging the new Administration and Congress to execute a Smart Power strategy.  Four years later, the report makes clear the debate is no longer about whether we should invest in our civilian power, but how best to do so.

For a more in-depth analysis and greater detail on how to implement these recommendations, click here to read the report and here to view the Roadmap of Success.

The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (www.usglc.org) is a broad-based influential network of 400 businesses and NGOs; national security and foreign policy experts; and business, faith-based, academic and community leaders in all 50 states who support a smart power approach of elevating development and diplomacy alongside defense in order to build a better, safer world. 

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