International Development - Audio

The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) is celebrating 60 years of existence. The IADB is the largest source of development financing for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. 19 of the 26 borrowing countries in the region are defined as “small states.” These small states rely on the IADB’s deep expertise and long-term partnership in ways that larger borrowing countries do not. Since the IADB’s Ninth General Capital Increase, the IADB has aimed to dedicate at least 35 percent of its annual lending approval volume to the small states of Latin America and the Caribbean. In conjunction with the 60 anniversary celebration of the IADB, CSIS is hosting this public event to explore the contributions, challenges, and opportunities of the IADB in small states. Agenda:  3:30 PM-3:45 PM: Opening Remarks3:45 PM-4:45 PM: Panel Discussion4:45 PM-5:00 PM: Audience Q&A5:00 PM-6:00 PM: Event Reception Please join us for this timely discussion on Wednesday, September 25. Upon conclusion of the event, a recepti

This panel discussion looked at progress being made toward achieving gender equality in developing countries and the challenges women and girls still face. The conversation features moderator Beverly Kirk and guests Zoe Dean-Smith, Amb. Mathilde Mukantabana, Johanna Nesseth Tuttle, and Astri Kimball Van Dyke.

Please join the CSIS Global Food Security Project for a discussion with a panel of experts on the relationship between climate change, political instability, and food security using current events on the African continent as a lens. The emerging consensus is that climate change poses significant national security threats. However, specific linkages between climate change and political instability are still opaque. As climate change reshapes the agricultural landscape across Africa, there is concern that higher food prices and falling yields will lead to widespread urban unrest and catalyze participation in armed extremist movements. Preceded by a keynote from Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), the discussion will examine how climate change is interacting with demographic trends in Africa to both heighten risks associated with agriculture in rural areas and those associated with dependence on global markets in urban areas. Our panelists will explore several issues such as how averting crisis in the face of climate chan

Bob and Andrew bring in nonpartisan legal expert Bradley P. Moss, Esq., to explain the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. Mr. Moss tells us how it works, the unique situation regarding the President with respect to the Act, and how the process may move forward. Download the full transcript here.

The United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which starts operations in October 2019, will modernize the U.S. development finance architecture. The DFC will expand the size and capabilities of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and will seek to crowd-in vitally needed private sector investments in low- and lower-middle income countries through new tools such as local currency loans, first-loss guarantees, and equity investments. The DFC is expected to help solidify the work of different U.S. agencies that work on fostering the private sector abroad. During this armchair conversation and panel discussion, the Project on Prosperity and Development will share its findings on how the DFC can work more effectively in the modern international development arena, improve coordination among U.S. allies and local businesses, and better support U.S. national security interests.Please join us for this timely discussion and the launch of our report on September 24th.This event is

Peace talks with the Taliban have dominated recent headlines. If a peace agreement is ever reached, it is worth looking to the future to see how that peace can be maintained and strengthened. What would come next from economic development and governance perspectives? How do we move beyond foreign aid and security cooperation driven paradigms to one that focuses on private sector growth and new investments in promising sectors? Robust policies accepted at the national and local levels, good governance, women’s empowerment, tangible demonstrations of continued security, and other changes would be critical to building upon any eventual peace agreement. And that peace agreement, if it ever comes, will only be worth the paper on which it was written should Afghanistan be unable to move into a new, more sustainable chapter in its history. This event was made possible through general support to CSIS.  

The CSIS Humanitarian Agenda is hosting the first annual Washington Humanitarian Forum on September 19th, 2019. This full-day conference will focus on humanitarian challenges that sit at the intersection of United States national security and foreign policy priorities. This year’s theme is Unlocking Humanitarian Access – Opportunities for U.S. Leadership.   The Washington Humanitarian Forum will include the launch of a report produced by the CSIS Task Force on Humanitarian Access. The Task Force, co-chaired by Senator Todd Young (R-IN) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), looked at ways in which denial, delay, and diversion prevents humanitarian assistance from reaching the most vulnerable populations, and vice versa, in conflict-affected areas. The Task Force report analyzes challenges in priority countries for the United States and includes recommendations for how United States leadership can mitigate the most pressing access challenges.     Video Address: Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Senator Todd Young

On September 18, CSIS will be hosting a public launch event in partnership with the CrossBoundary Group for a new report, Investment Facilitation Revisited. Drawing on the experience of CrossBoundary's efforts to test and further develop ideas originally presented in the 2013 CSIS report on Investment Facilitation in Transitional and Fragile States, a team of experts at CSIS and CrossBoundary have revisited the issues and strategies identified in the original report and offer new learnings. The report will be released the day of the event. The report updates the understanding of country and firm-level barriers to investment (macro-level constraints, lack of capital for risk/return profile, transaction costs, and information asymmetries), and nuances the suggested interventions to address them. With a particular focus on neglected firm-level barriers, the report describes how supporting pioneer investors and companies with expertise, surge bandwidth, geographic presence, and neutral intermediation can unlock s

In part one of a two-part discussion, Mike is joined by Kelly Magsamen, vice president for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress and a former pentagon and NSC official; and Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and Yale Law School China center. With the Democratic presidential primary in full swing, the three discuss the history of Democratic grand strategy in Asia, noting the prevalence of both realist and institutionalist tendencies in Democratic administrations. Stay tuned for a further discussion on the importance of trade strategy, defense issues, and democratic values in a future Democratic administration’s Asia grand strategy in part two Download full transcript here.

In this episode, Dan sits down with Sean Cairncross, Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). As CEO, Mr. Cairncross leads the agency and provides strategic direction and vision as MCC fulfills its mission of reducing poverty through economic growth and advancing America’s interests around the globe. Dan and Mr. Cairncross discuss the recent MCC-Cote D’Ivoire compact, the addition of regional compacts, the MCC model, and beyond. They also analyze how the MCC integrates accountability and sustainability mechanisms into their agenda and how its threshold programs lead to successful country compacts.

Millions of people around the world live in and travel through the shadows. Compelled to leave home, they migrate irregularly without proper documentation to gain access to jobs, education, healthcare, food, and other essential services. Irregular migration exists because there are not enough opportunities for safety and prosperity at home and too few conventional means through which to remedy that lack of opportunity. Recognizing the critical, understudied, and often misunderstood nature of this global phenomenon, CSIS produced a research study on irregular migration involving field research in Mexico, Eritrea, and Ghana. This report, which builds on CSIS’ past work on the global forced migration crisis, aims to shine a light on irregular migration and contribute to an enormously consequential conversation.  Read CSIS’s new report Out of the Shadows: Shining a Light on Irregular Migration.  The report and event were made possible by the generous support of the Ford Foundation.

This week, Jude and Andrew discuss last Sunday’s mass migration of Hong Kong protesters in a peaceful march, and what it might indicate for the future. They also analyze the growing role of social media within the conflict, as well as within potential cyber threats from China, and how the White House and U.S. Congress is—or isn’t—responding to it all.

Please join us for an armchair discussion with Sean Cairncross, CEO, to hear more about his vision for the future direction of the MCC and U.S. foreign aid.   Since its creation in 2004, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has acted as a key U.S. foreign assistance instrument focused on economic growth, country partnerships, and cost-effective projects. Its impact spans nearly 50 countries around the world in the agriculture, education, energy, health, and infrastructure sectors. MCC's three different grant systems—compacts, concurrent compacts for regional investments, and threshold programs—address the underlying causes of poverty and promote economic growth by working with the private sector and supporting regulatory reforms. Sean Cairncross was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Challenge Corporation and was sworn in on June 24, 2019. As CEO, Mr. Cairncross leads the agency and provides strategic direction and vision as MCC fulfills its missio

Please join us on July 24th for a public event focused on Sustainable Development Goal #5 which aims to achieve global gender equality and empower all women and girls. Inequalities stemming from discrimination towards women have declined in recent decades; however, a significant social, economic, and political divide still exists. Women are consistently paid less than their male counterparts around the world even in many developed countries. Societal and culture norms prevent women from entering the labor force and contributing to the economy. Environmental concerns like access to water impact women the most because they are the traditional collectors. Lack of educational opportunities prevent many women from escaping cycles of generational poverty.  This event will look at the challenges to inclusion that women face in developing countries and also the progress made toward achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. Closing the gender gap could add an estimated $28 trillion to global GDP by

A negotiated settlement may be the only solution to end the 18 years of war in Afghanistan. Though peace is possible, it feels like a distant hope. Afghans and others are cautiously talking about life after armed conflict, but a much-desired peace brings its own challenges. Chiefly among them is to address the livelihood needs of former fighters, some 2 million returned refugees, more than 2.5 million internally displaced persons, and many other vulnerable people. The panel of distinguished experts will discuss challenges, options, and opportunities as Afghanistan attempts to address employment for these at-risk segments of the population. During the panel session, Dean Piedmont of Creative Associates will present a white paper on disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) of former fighters in the country. Please join us for this timely discussion on Tuesday, July 23rd. This event is made possible by the support of Creative Associates International.

The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat all rely on biodiversity – but the demands of a growing population and the practices of unsustainable agriculture are compromising access to humanity’s most basic needs. This was the message from two recent reports launched by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations' (FAO) publications: Biodiversity for Sustainable Agriculture and The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture.   The reports detailed the impact of environmental degradation and the impact diminishing biodiversity has on vulnerable ecosystems and food systems, including agriculture and health. Once biodiversity is lost, we cannot recover it. What is driving these changes in nature and how will it impact daily life? What policies and practices need to be put in place to save our planet and our food security?   Join us to hear from experts on the linkages between biodiversity loss and its impact on the global food system. The distinguished panel will refle

Global supply chains are critical to development. Over the past few years, there have been major changes in how goods are produced and delivered, led by the growing role of technology. Digital technologies and innovations like drones as well as management information systems which incorporate blockchain and artificial intelligence offer unique opportunities to strengthen supply chains and spur economic growth. Development practitioners and the private sector are looking to use supply chain data to improve traceability, decrease waste, and make sure that goods and services are reaching their intended targets in developing countries. This event will examine the opportunities to strengthen and track global supply chains through new technologies. This event is made possible by generous support from Chemonics International.   

Download the Brief For many developing countries, the absence of quality infrastructure is a significant bottleneck to sustainable economic growth. A large number of studies have demonstrated that quality infrastructure yields large scale and long-term economic dividends. Political leadership in host countries is required to ensure that quality infrastructure investments are made. With support from donor countries and multilateral development banks, such efforts to pursue sustainable quality infrastructure can be supplemented with planning and procurement practices that look at long-term economic efficiency and life-cycle costs. CSIS, with generous support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, undertook a comprehensive research study to examine the importance of transparency and sustainability in achieving quality infrastructure, the findings from which have been captured in a short policy brief. Through this public event, CSIS and its panel will share insights that build on the emerging consensus

A group of sovereign countries came together out of the ashes of World War II and created the United Nations – the formal name given by the allied countries who won World War II – to solve collective global problems. The United Nations built upon hard lessons learned from the failure of the League of Nations. Senator Arthur Vandenberg was one of the key architects of the United Nations as we know it.   In 1945, seeking bipartisan support for rebuilding the world, President Truman called upon Senator Vandenberg to join him as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Conference in San Francisco. Senator Vandenberg worked across party lines with President Truman and played a pivotal role in standing up the United Nations Charter, which assured that the U.S. held veto power in the Security Council. Senator Vandenberg returned to the Senate and ensured that the United Nations Charter received overwhelming support. Thanks in part to his efforts, the United Nations remains the preeminent international p

Download the EVENT SUMMARY The CSIS Global Food Security Project invites you to join a discussion with a world-renowned expert and advocate on the opportunity for U.S. foreign policy and business to improve global nutrition. Dr. Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), was awarded the 2018 World Food Prize for his exemplary leadership in maternal and child nutrition and efforts to significantly reduce childhood stunting. Please join us to learn Dr. Haddad’s views on why and how the U.S. government should strengthen public-private engagement in its foreign policy to provide optimal nutrition for all. The current state of all three forms of malnutrition—underweight, overweight or obese, and micronutrient deficiency—is unacceptable. With one in three people experiencing malnutrition, every country faces the damaging effects malnutrition has on country-level prosperity and security. Although the current food system faces many challenges today, the private sect