“More effective foreign assistance can pay real dividends” say three high-ranking Republicans who understand the International Affairs Budget from their own experience.  Former House Foreign Affairs Chairman Jim Kolbe, former Congressman and Ambassador to Tanzania Mark Green, and former head of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation Rob Mosbacher wrote in this morning’s Daily Caller that, “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.”   As the new Congress begins to look at the International Affairs Budget, these voices send an important message as to why this funding is so critical to the security and economy of all Americans.

Must Reads

Who’s In the News

Rand Paul Calls for End to Foreign Aid (Alana Goodman – Commentary)

Sen. Rand Paul appears to be following in his father, Ron Paul’s, footsteps. The newly elected libertarian senator told Wolf Blitzer that he wants the U.S. to end all foreign aid, including aid to Israel, during an interview on Wednesday. “When you send foreign aid, you actually [send] quite a bit to Israel’s enemies. Islamic nations around Israel get quite a bit of foreign aid, too,” said Paul. “You have to ask yourself, are we funding an arms race on both sides?”

Smart Power

What is foreign aid for? (Paul Miller – Foreign Policy)

Foreign aid is once again under fire. Every so often a few politicians — usually Republicans — get up in arms about our government’s gift of large amounts of money to other countries. Equally often, media stories appear detailing how ineffective aid supposedly is. The picture emerges that foreign aid is unnecessary, ineffective, and wasteful.

More effective foreign assistance can pay real dividends (Mark Green, Jim Kolbe & Rob Mosbacher – The Daily Caller)

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.

Politics/Foreign Policy

Obama administration could still get it right on Egypt (Jackson Diehl – The Washington Post)

During her first visit to Egypt as secretary of state, in March 2009, Hillary Rodham Clinton was asked whether human rights violations by the Egyptian government that had been documented by the State Department would interfere with a visit to the White House by President Hosni Mubarak. It was a good question: Mubarak had not been to Washington in five years, thanks to his clashes with the Bush administration over his political repression.

Can the Global Fund weather the corruption storm? (Sarah Boseley – The Guardian)

Until a few days ago, the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and Malaria had the enviable reputation of being one of the cleanest and safest channels of donor money to the poor in the developing world. Everybody knows there is corruption in Africa – but it never tainted the Global Fund. But now Germany, the third biggest donor to the fund after the US and France, has suspended the €200m it pledged for 2011, asking for an investigation into the fraud and misuse of money in four countries – Mauritania, Mali, Zambia and Djibouti.

International organizations as talent incubators (David Bosco – Foreign Policy)

Mohamed ElBaradei has arrived back in Egypt, where he was reportedly greeted by throngs at the airport. In Cote d’Ivoire, the internationally-recognized victor in the presidential election, Alassane Ouattara, is struggling to wrest power from the clinging hands of Laurent Gbagbo, with the backing of the international community.The two men facing down non-democratic forces in their countries have something in common: they both served for long stretches at international institutions.