RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
October 2008, The Brookings Institution
America’s 44th president will take office at a moment of consequential global challenges that require leadership and cooperation. In a new report, Brookings experts identify and rank the top 10 global economic issues faced by the next U.S. president and propose policy recommendations to help guide the new administration. Read More
BOOK
Charles C. Griffin and others, October 01, 2008
This book investigates a vital aspect of the foreign aid landscape and how to make sure money goes where it should. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Lael Brainard and Noam Unger, September 11, 2008, The Brookings Institution
On the seventh anniversary of September 11, Lael Brainard and Noam Unger examine how the global development agenda has changed and how the U.S. can take critical steps to lead on efforts to reduce global poverty. Read More
BOOK
Lael Brainard and Derek Chollet, August 01, 2008
An unprecedented explosion of development players heralds a new era of global action on poverty. Global Development 2.0 celebrates this transformative trend within international aid and offers lessons to ensure that this wave of generosity yields lasting and widespread improvements to the lives and prospects of the world’s poorest. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Craig Cohen and Noam Unger, July 2008, The Stanley Foundation and the Center for a New American Security
In a recent article written for a 2008 project of the Stanley Foundation and the Center for a New American Security, Noam Unger and Craig Cohen, associate vice president for research and programs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, examine recent efforts to modernize U.S. civilian international affairs agencies. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Lael Brainard and Noam Unger, June 16, 2008, Los Angeles Times
Lael Brainard and Noam Unger discuss how the global food crisis showcases America’s limited current capability to respond effectively to global development challenges, and argue that the U.S. must modernize its foreign aid system in order to effectively offer solutions to poverty and lead internationally. Read More
PAST EVENT
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Washington, DC
With its hard power stretched thin and facing 21st century threats from poverty, pandemics, and terrorism, the United States needs to revitalize its foreign aid infrastructure to ensure it effectively executes on America’s aspirations and aid dollars. On June 10, Lael Brainard from Brookings joined other leading global development experts, and Reps. Berman and Lowey and Senator Hagel, to discuss how the U.S. foreign aid system must change. A new consensus proposal for reform was also issued, which contains a number of Brookings’ recommendations. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Noam Unger, May 02, 2008, The Brookings Institution
President Bush recently called on Congress to increase U.S. food aid and development programs by $770 million. In a recent op-ed, Noam Unger, senior manager of Brookings’ Foreign Aid Reform Project, discusses how U.S. assistance programs should be strengthened in order to improve the effectiveness of America’s aid during the global food crisis and beyond. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Lael Brainard, April 23, 2008, House Committee on Foreign Affairs
As the world faces security threats from impoverished states, the global community searches for solutions to poverty. Lael Brainard offers Congress recommendations for modernizing the U.S. aid infrastructure.
Read MoreRESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Joshua Hermias and Homi Kharas, February 2008, Development & Cooperation, No. 02 2008, Volume 49, February 2008
The effectiveness of foreign aid is reduced by the low share of aid going into country programmes, donors’ fragmentation into small and often disconnected projects, and by significant volatility over time. Joshua Hermias and Homi Kharas discuss the key role that competition can have in spurring efficiency in aid agencies, which would asist aid harmonization. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Lael Brainard, January 23, 2008, House Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs
In a world facing 21st century threats from global poverty, pandemics, and terrorism, foreign aid has assumed renewed importance as a critical instrument for advancing American values, interests, and national security. Lael Brainard offers Congress recommendations for urgent reform since U.S. foreign aid policy has become incoherent and its implementation fragmented. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Homi Kharas, December 20, 2007, The Brookings Institution
From climate change to international aid, better rules of engagement are mandatory to resolve global issues and sustain the current cycle of prosperity and wealth, Homi Kharas argues. Managing globalization well is being held hostage to the absence of productive engagement between rich and poor countries. Read More
PAST EVENT
Monday, December 10, 2007
1:00 PM to 4:00 pm
Washington, DC
On December 10, the Global Economy and Development program hosted the HELP Commission for the official release of its report on foreign aid reform, Beyond Assistance. Mary Bush, chair of the HELP Commission, announced the commission’s recommendations during remarks. Additional commissioners discussed their views on reform priorities and next steps. The second panel of independent experts led by Lael Brainard, vice president and director of Global Economy and Development, offered analysis of the HELP Commission’s report and discuss steps to move reform forward. Read More
VIDEO
Lael Brainard, December 10, 2007
Congress established the Helping to Enhance the Livelihood of People around the Globe (HELP) Commission to study U.S. development and humanitarian assistance programs and to propose bold reform recommendations for relevant structures, mechanisms and incentives. The Global Economy and Development program hosted the HELP Commission for the official release of its report on foreign aid reform, Beyond Assistance, which provides recommendations designed to harness the full potential of U.S. foreign assistance efforts.
VIDEO
Lael Brainard, December 10, 2007
On December 10, Brookings hosted the Helping to Enhance the Livelihood of People around the Globe (HELP) Commission for their release of “Beyond Assistance,” the commission’s recommendations for foreign aid reform. Brookings Vice President Lael Brainard examines critical points in the report and discusses next steps for the reform effort.