Controlling Carrots and Sticks [WSJ]

CGD senior fellow Steve Radelet and MCA Monitor senior policy analyst Sheila Herrling are quoted in this Wall Street Journal article about the tensions between the Millennium Challenge Corporation and State Department.

From the article:

"The pressure comes from State in most cases," says Sheila Herrling, an MCC specialist at the nonpartisan Washington think tank, the Center for Global Development.

...

The board voted unanimously on June 16 to suspend Gambia's eligibility because of alleged human-rights abuses and public corruption, among other problems. In internal administration discussions, however, the State Department was seen as more conciliatory toward Gambia. And board members have, at times, disagreed over when they should use their discretion to assist countries that -- by the numerical criteria alone -- wouldn't have made the cut, according to Steve Radelet, a former Treasury Department official and a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development.

...

An MCC representative says Georgia deserves some slack because it is now aggressively fighting corruption. But Ms. Herrling calls it "a straight-up political decision."

"The key to success at MCC is whether they withstand the political pressure to direct MCC resources to countries that are not performing on their development indicators, or to withstand pressures to use MCC money for geopolitical purposes, not development," Ms. Herrling says.