Global Development: Views from the Center

A recent Foreign Affairs article by Stephen Krasner suggests that the United States should withdraw all military and civilian assistance from Pakistan in response to the countries increasingly volatile relationship. CGD President, Nancy Birdsall, takes a more measured response and calls for a renewed focus on U.S. support to private sector growth in Pakistan.

This is a joint post with Milan Vaishnav, and Danny Cutherell

On December 8th, CGD hosted its first Pakistan study group meeting since the release of its June 2011 report on the U.S. development strategy in Pakistan. Our focus was on how the United States could better support the private sector, especially small business, in Pakistan. That discussion—and our ongoing conversation with study group members, Pakistan experts, and CGD colleagues—provided the basis for our sixth open letter (authored by Nancy) to the Obama Administration, available on our website.

This post, co-authored by Nancy Birdsall, Milan Vaishnav, and Danny Cutherell was originally featured on Foreign Policy's AFPAK Channel.

Milan Vaishnav, a former CGD research assistant and current Columbia PhD candidate, has sent the following intriguing observations from Bolivia, where he is conducting research for CGD's Engaging Fragile States initiative:

This report by Nancy Birdsall, Adeel Malik and Milan Vaishnav was prepared for the World Bank's Operations Evaluation Department. The report focuses on the role of the World Bank in support of poverty reduction during the period beginning in 1990 and concluding in 2003. It reviews and discusses the Bank's analytic work and its efforts to bring change through policy dialogue and lending programs.