Blog Posts Address Possible Global Health, Foreign Policy Priorities In Second Obama Administration

After President Barack Obama’s re-election on Tuesday, the following blog posts addressed possible foreign policy priorities during the next administration.

  • Amanda Glassman et al., Center for Global Development’s “Global Health Policy” blog: “While I don’t expect the political gridlock in Washington to abate much over the next years, global health fortunately remains one of the few areas of bipartisan consensus in U.S. policy,” Glassman writes in a joint post with Jenny Ottenhoff and Rachel Silverman and describes “five things that should be at the top of the president’s global health agenda for the next four years.” Those issues include PEPFAR renewal or recommitment, sustainability and exit strategy, program transparency, border health security against emerging diseases, and global health partnership engagement, according to the blog (11/7).
  • Ivy Mungcal, Devex’s “Pennsylvania Ave.” blog: Obama’s re-election “suggests a continuation of U.S. foreign aid reforms focused on food aid, global health, country ownership and private sector engagement,” she writes, saying USAID “could have faced deep budget cuts in a Republican administration.” However, she states that questions over leadership at the State Department “linger,” with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s announcement she plans to retire, and writes, “USAID and the White House face some of the same challenges when it comes to dealing with the U.S. Congress” (11/7).
  • Jonathan Quick, Management Sciences for Health’s “Global Impact Blog”: “The United States re-elected President Barack Obama to lead not only our country, but also to lead on addressing global health and other global development challenges,” Quick writes. “The Obama Administration has made great strides in its support and leadership on child survival and maternal health, as well as working towards an AIDS-free generation,” he states, adding, “It’s imperative that these investments in global health continue over the next four years” (11/7).
  • Roger Thurow, ONE Blog: President Obama’s re-election means “[f]our more years to make [his] Feed the Future initiative a permanent part of American policy no matter the political makeup in Congress and the White House,” Thurow writes, adding, “That was the President’s promise to the world’s poorest when he spoke at the Chicago Council’s Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security in May.” He continues, “The best way to do this is to make global food security a shared goal, embraced by both Democrat and Republican, to remove it from the partisan realm, to project it not as an Obama initiative but as an American initiative” (11/7).

The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.

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