The announcement today that Andrew Natsios will retire as Administrator of USAID should concern the development community.Natsios is one of the administration’s most articulate spokesmen for active engagement by the United States in developing countries. Reflecting the realities of the post 9-11 world, he convinced the administration that development should join defense and diplomacy as one of three pillars of national security. As the most active USAID administrator in history in the realm of humanitarian assistance, he brought deep commitment and compassion to the task, while improving the efficiency and effectiveness of this part of his portfolio. Natsios may well be remembered for his proposal to translate part of the food aid budget into cash, to make procurement and delivery more flexible by placing decision-making in the hands of local NGOs. But his earlier initiative, Foreign Aid in the National Interest (the “Natsios Report’), will also have a lasting legacy for putting economic growth back on USAID’s agenda, and doing so within a “good governance” framework. That is the new "Washington Consensus.” Andrew Natsios will be hard to replace.
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