On February 9, President Obama submitted his FY 2017 budget request to Congress. The proposed international affairs budget is down 1 percent from current funding levels and 12 percent (in constant dollars) since 2010, better than many domestic accounts. In addition, outside the regular budget, the administration is proposing $1.8 billion ($376 million from the international affairs budget account) to meet the latest pandemic — the Zika virus. Given the budget environment, the proposed amounts for the international affairs budget seem reasonable.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Colombia was on the brink of collapse and the U.S. grappled with the threat of a major drug war spilling over its southern borders. But over the past decade, the economy has grown at an average of 4.3 percent, and unemployment and poverty are at historic lows. The country’s homicide rate has been cut in half, kidnappings have declined by 90 percent, and in a little over a month, the Colombian government is expected to sign a peace agreement with the rebel movement known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), ending the longest civil war in Latin America. How did we get here?

With all eyes on New Hampshire today and the 2016 presidential horserace, it’s pretty easy to miss a relatively wonky, but actually important moment in Washington: the kickoff to the budget season with the Administration’s release of its proposal to Congress. The good news is that the two-year budget deal reached by Congress and the Administration last November spared international affairs programs from dangerous cuts from sequestration. Here are my 6 key takeaways on what the budget proposal means for America’s global leadership.

As we begin 2016, several key pieces of global development legislation await Congress, having moved forward during December’s end-of-year rush. These bills on energy access, hunger, and transparency and accountability could have a lasting and positive effect on U.S. foreign assistance. Here’s an update on where they stand in Congress.

The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) hosted the second event of its Impact 2016 initiative in New Hampshire on December 4, 2015 to discuss how America’s development and diplomacy efforts are critical issues for this election.

A little-noticed but important development is underway in Congress that could improve the way the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) promotes economic growth: regional compacts. The idea behind regional compacts is that constraints to economic growth in areas like water, transportation, and energy infrastructure may not be met most effectively within national boundaries. Accelerating regional integration has been identified as one of the keys to economic growth in Africa, and a study by the World Bank last year estimated that regionally integrated infrastructure could double Sub-Saharan Africa’s share of global trade.

In two separate hearings, the House Foreign Affairs Committee tackled the separate issues of food aid reform and global food security. These continue to be hot-button issues as the global community continues to find sustainable and effective solutions to end global hunger.

Earlier this month we saw the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. This year also has special significance with the creation of the United Nations seven decades ago, and the beginning of America’s role as a global leader. That same year, Senator Arthur Vandenberg (R-MI), soon-to-be-named-Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and famous for his staunch isolationist views, took to the Senate floor and argued for American leadership in the post-war world. In the run-up to the 2016 election, it is important to reflect on Senator Vandenberg’s shift in thinking that led to his “Speech Heard Round the World.”