The White House and the World: A Global Development Agenda for the Next U.S. President

386 Pages·2008·4.63 MB·English

by  Nancy Birdsall

THE
B
Each day brings fresh evidence that Americans’ well-being is linked to the i
r
lives of others around the world as never before. Accelerating advances d W H I T E H O U S E
in technology and the creation of new knowledge offer undreamed-of s
opportunities. Yet global poverty, inequality, disease, and the threat of a
rapid climate change threaten our hopes. How will the next U.S. president ll AND
tackle these global challenges?

T H E WO R L D
The White House and the World shows how modest changes in U.S. policies
could greatly improve the lives of poor people in developing countries, thus

fostering greater stability, security and prosperity globally and at home.
T
Center for Global Development experts offer fresh perspectives and practical
H
advice on trade policy, migration, foreign aid, climate change, and more. In A Global Development Agenda
E
an introductory essay, CGD President Nancy Birdsall explains why and how

the next U.S. president must lead in the creation of a better, safer world. W
for the Next U.S. President
H
The White House and the World will be invaluable to anybody interested in
I
improving U.S. foreign policy in the 21st century.
T
E

Praise for the Center for Global Development H
O
“The Center for Global Development has a track record of providing impor- U
tant insights into how the United States can improve global development
S
policy and thereby tackle some of the world's most intractable problems.
E
This book continues that tradition and helps advance our understanding

about how the next administration can improve a critical arm of our global A
engagement.” N
—Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) D

“CGD’s work is always rigorous and very often useful to us in government. T
Their combination of independence and high quality makes it a place to H
turn to for new ideas and sound analysis.” E
—Bobby Pittman Jr., Senior Director and Special Assistant to President Bush
W
for African Affairs at the National Security Council
O
“I commend the Center for its excellent initiatives to raise the profile of R
development issues and to contribute ideas and solutions to the many
L
challenges of development.” D
—Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General
“CGD occupies the well-reasoned middle-ground these days between the
anti-globalists and the doctrinaire cheerleaders for free markets, free trade
and free flows of capital.”
—The Washington Post
Edited by
Nancy Birdsall
Center for Global Development
CGD
The White House
and the World
A Global Development Agenda
for the Next U.S. President

The White House
and the World
A Global Development Agenda
for the Next U.S. President
Nancy Birdsall, editor
Center for Global Development
Washington, D.C.
Copyright © 2008
CENTER FOR GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT
1776 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
www.cgdev.org
Th e White House and the World: A Global Development Agenda
for the Next U.S. President may be ordered from:
BROOKINGS INSTITUTION PRESS
c/o HFS
P.O. Box 50370
Baltimore, MD 21211-4370
Tel.: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Internet: www.brookings.edu
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means without permission in writing from the Center for Global
Development.
Th e views expressed in this volume are those of the authors and should not be attributed
to the board of directors or funders of the Center for Global Development.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Th e White House and the world : a global development agenda
for the next U.S. president / Nancy Birdsall, editor.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-1-933286-24-2 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-933286-24-5 (alk. paper)
1. United States—Foreign economic relations—Developing countries.
2. Developing countries—Foreign economic relations—United States.
3. Economic assistance, American—Developing countries.
I. Birdsall, Nancy. II. Title.
HF1456.5.D44W55 2008 2008012536
338.91'73—dc22
Editing and typesetting by Communications Development Incorporated, Washington, D.C.
Reprinted 11/08
Th e Center for Global Development is an independent, nonprofi t policy research
organization dedicated to reducing global poverty and inequality and to making
globalization work for the poor. Th rough a combination of research and strategic
outreach, the Center actively engages policymakers and the public to infl uence
the policies of the United States, other rich countries, and such institutions as the
World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organiza-
tion to improve the economic and social development prospects in poor coun-
tries. Th e Center’s Board of Directors bears overall responsibility for the Center
and includes distinguished leaders of nongovernmental organizations, former
offi cials, business executives, and some of the world’s leading scholars of devel-
opment. Th e Center receives advice on its research and policy programs from
the Board and from an Advisory Committee that comprises respected develop-
ment specialists and advocates. Th e Center’s president works with the Board, the
Advisory Committee, and the Center’s senior staff in setting the research and
program priorities and approves all formal publications. Th e Center is supported
by an initial signifi cant fi nancial contribution from Edward W. Scott Jr. and by
funding from philanthropic foundations and other organizations.
Board of Directors
Edward W. Scott, Jr.* José Angel Gurría Trevino Dani Rodrik**
Chairman James A. Harmon William D. Ruckelshaus
Nancy Birdsall* Enrique V. Iglesias S. Jacob Scherr
President Kassahun Kebede Belinda Stronach
Carol J. Lancaster Lawrence H. Summers
Bernard Aronson* Susan B. Levine* Adam Waldman*
C. Fred Bergsten* Nora C. Lustig Honorary Members
Jessica P. Einhorn M. Peter McPherson John L. Hennessy
Timothy F. Geithner Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Sir Colin Lucas
David Gergen Th e Honorable Paul H. Robert S. McNamara
Th omas R. Gibian* O’Neill Amartya K. Sen
Bruns Grayson* John T. Reid* Joseph E. Stiglitz
*Member of the Executive Committee
**Ex offi cio, chair of Advisory Group
Advisory Group
Masood Ahmed David de Ferranti Kenneth Prewitt
Abhijit Banerjee Kristin Forbes Dani Rodrik
Pranab Bardhan Carol Graham David Rothkopf
Jere Behrman J. Bryan Hehir Federico Sturzenegger
Th omas Carothers Simon Johnson Robert H. Wade
Anne Case Anne Krueger John Williamson
Angus Deaton David Lipton Ngaire Woods
Kemal Dervis Mark Medish Ernesto Zedillo
Esther Dufl o Deepa Narayan
Peter Evans Rohini Pande
v

Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction
Righting the Th ree-Legged Stool: Why Global
Development Matters for Americans and
What the Next President Should Do about It
Nancy Birdsall 1
Harnessing U.S. Technology and Business
1 Healthy Foreign Policy: Bringing Coherence
to the Global Health Agenda
Ruth Levine 43
2 Global Warming: An Opportunity for Greatness
David Wheeler 63
3 Power and Roads for Africa: What the United
States Can Do
Vijaya Ramachandran 91
4 Foreign Direct Investment and Development
Th eodore Moran 121
vii
viii THE WHITE HOUSE AND THE WORLD
5 Getting the Focus Right: U.S. Leadership in the Fight against
Global Corruption
Dennis de Tray and Th eodore Moran 141
6 Integration in the Americas: One Idea for Plan B
Nancy Lee 171
Better Trade and Migration Policies
7 U.S. Trade Policy and Global Development
Kimberly Ann Elliott 185
8 Tripping over Health: U.S. Policy on Patents and Drug Access
in Developing Countries
Carsten Fink and Kimberly Ann Elliott 215
9 Don’t Close the Golden Door: Making Immigration Policy
Work for Development
Michael Clemens and Sami Bazzi 241
Aid and Security
10 Modernizing U.S. Foreign Assistance for the
Twenty-fi rst Century
Sheila Herrling and Steve Radelet 273
11 Opportunities for Presidential Leadership on AIDS:
From an “Emergency Plan” to a Sustainable Policy
Mead Over 299
12 U.S. Policy toward Fragile States: An Integrated Approach
to Security and Development
Stewart Patrick 327
13 Aid for Education: More Bang for the Buck
Kate Vyborny and Nancy Birdsall 355
Preface
Th e mission of the Center for Global Development is and
has always been to analyze issues and develop policy frame-
works that encourage the world’s richest countries to act
in ways that contribute to the reduction of global poverty
and inequality. Th is is a complex, subtle, and nuanced un-
dertaking. Nonetheless, in the last six years, the Center has
made great progress in advancing this core mission. I am
extremely proud of the varied and extensive enquiries it has
pursued, which aim to improve the lives of the world’s poor-
est citizens. By matching research with action, the Center
goes beyond simply adding to the development literature; it
conceives of and advocates for policies that directly improve
the lives of poor people in developing countries.
In this collection of essays, the Center’s fellows off er
analyses and recommendations that explain how and why
the next U.S. administration should put eff ective U.S. lead-
ership for global development at the heart of its foreign pol-
icy. From global health to foreign aid, from global warming
to migration and direct foreign investment, the chapters of
Th e White House and the World lay out concrete and prac-
tical solutions to some of the most pressing international
problems facing the United States.
Th e Center for Global Development was founded soon
aft er 9/11, at a time when we in this country were anxious
and even fearful about the challenges that the new century
would bring. Seven years later, Americans have come to un-
derstand that the world has changed in ways that link us
ix