USAID in the 21st Century: What Do We Need for the Tasks at Hand?
4/6/09
CGD visiting fellow Carol Lancaster testifies in frot of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Development on April 1, 2009.
Publications
Guatemala . . . Teetering on the Brink?
9/9/08
Visiting fellow Carol Lancaster reflects on how Guatemala has changed since her first visit four decades ago. A larger middle class and formal sector, more NGOs, and more women in professional life: these are among the positive changes. Yet the country is poised to either realize its great potential or succumb to obstacles along the way. U.S. policies can influence the future of Guatemala and other countries in the region, but they must look beyond the narrow focus on drugs and migration.
George Bush's Foreign Aid: Transformation or Chaos?
5/16/08
Visiting fellow Carol Lancaster analyzes the dramatic changes in U.S. foreign aid during the Bush administration, including the increased use of aid to address failed states and to fight the global war on terror, the establishment of an entirely new aid agency—the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and the use of large amounts of aid to address a single problem, as with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
We Fall Down and Get Up: Carol Lancaster Reports on Elections in Sierra Leone
8/27/07
Sierra Leone, where a brutal decade-long civil war finally ended in 2002, has just held remarkably fair, peaceful and well-organized elections. CGD visiting fellow Carol Lancaster, a former deputy administrator of USAID, was there as an election observer. In a new CGD Essay, she reflects on what democracy means in a country with a mere 35 percent literacy rate, a 70 percent unemployment rate, and life expectancy of only 40 years. She writes that progress will depend upon the new government's ability to tackle corruption, rebuild infrastructure and encourage investment. It will also require the emergence of a domestic constituency with the knowledge, power and commitment to hold new leaders accountable.
Learn More
The Chinese Aid System
6/27/07
Chinese foreign aid is rising fast and Western aid agencies are concerned: will Chinese aid undermine efforts to promote reform in Africa and elsewhere? Will Chinese loans burden poor countries with fresh debt? In this new essay, CGD visiting fellow Carol Lancaster provides a concise and accessible overview of what is known--and not known--about the Chinese aid system. She advises aid agencies in Europe, North America and Japan to increase communication and to seek opportunities for collaboration with Beijing.
The Devil is in the Details: From the Millennium Challenge Account to the Millennium Challenge Corporation
12/11/02
The devil will be in the details in the establishment of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)--as it is with most organizational innovations. In this MCA Monitor Analysis Carol Lancaster identifies five major issues that must be addressed: the political process by which the MCC will be established; how the MCC will be funded; the criteria for eligibility; implementation of programs; and the management of the organization, including the role of the Board.
Where to Put the Millennium Challenge Account?
10/15/02
The oldest saw in Washington is the saying "Where you stand depends on where you sit". But just because it’s old doesn’t mean it isn’t right. This paper presents the options for housing the Millennium Challenge Account. Whether it is fully or partially integrated into an existing organization or created as a new organization, where this account is lodged organizationally will shape what it does, regardless of what the president intends it to do.