Independent research & practical ideas for global prosperity

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

Nancy Birdsall, editor

08/22/2008

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The White House and the World: A Global Development Agenda for the Next U.S. President The Center for Global Development has a track record of providing important insights into how the United States can improve global development policy and thereby tackle some of the world's most intractable problems. This book continues that tradition and helps advance our understanding about how the next administration can improve a critical arm of our global engagement.

—Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

CGD’s work is always rigorous and very often useful to us in government. Their combination of independence and high quality makes it a place to turn to for new ideas and sound analysis.

—Bobby Pittman Jr., Senior Director and Special Assistant to President Bush for African Affairs at the National Security Council

Each day brings fresh evidence that Americans’ well-being is linked to the lives of others around the world as never before. Accelerating advances in technology and the creation of new knowledge offer undreamed-of opportunities. Yet global poverty, inequality, disease and the threat of rapid climate change threaten our hopes. How will the next U.S. president tackle these global challenges?

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. Center for Global Development experts offer fresh perspectives and practical advice on trade policy, migration, foreign aid, climate change and more. In 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.

The White House and the World will be invaluable to anybody interested in improving American foreign policy in the 21st century.

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Preface and Acknowledgments
Table of Contents
Introduction: Why Global Development Matters for Americans and What the Next President Should Do about It
By Nancy Birdsall
Chapter One: Healthy Foreign Policy: Bringing Coherence to the Global Health Agenda
By Ruth Levine
Chapter Two: Global Warming: An Opportunity for Greatness
By David Wheeler
Chapter Three: Power and Roads for Africa: What the United States Can Do
By Vijaya Ramachandran
Chapter Four: Foreign Direct Investment and Development
By Theodore Moran
Chapter Five: Getting the Focus Right: U.S. Leadership in the Fight against Global Corruption
By Dennis de Tray and Theodore Moran
Chapter Six: Integration in the Americas: One Idea for Plan B
By Nancy Lee
Chapter Seven: U.S. Trade Policy and Global Development
By Kimberly Ann Elliott
Chapter Eight: Tripping over Health: U.S. Policy on Patents and Drug Access in Developing Countries
By Carsten Fink and Kimberly Ann Elliott
Chapter Nine: Don’t Close the Golden Door: Making Immigration Policy Work for Development
By Michael Clemens and Sami Bazzi
Chapter Ten: Modernizing U.S. Foreign Assistance for the Twenty-first Century
By Sheila Herrling and Steve Radelet
Chapter Eleven: Opportunities for Presidential Leadership on AIDS: From an “Emergency Plan” to a Sustainable Policy
By Mead Over
Chapter Twelve: U.S. Policy toward Fragile States: An Integrated Approach to Security and Development
By Stewart Patrick
Chapter Thirteen: Aid for Education: More Bang for the Buck
By Kate Vyborny and Nancy Birdsall

Nancy Birdsall, ed. 2008. The White House and the World: A Global Development Agenda for the Next U.S. President. Washington, D.C.: Center for Global Development. http://www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/16560/