The Hill: Leveraging USAID partnerships promotes peace and prosperity
Greg Huger, senior associate with the Project on U.S. Leadership in Development at the Center for Strategic and International Studies

“Here is a simple truth: The stability of any nation rises or declines in direct relation to its economic well-being. That’s why the United States — through the U.S. Agency for International Development — has worked for more than half a century to help improve the lives of people around the world as an essential component of U.S. foreign policy. USAID initiatives aimed at improving the economic fortunes of poor populations have been working in parallel with U.S. diplomatic efforts to prevent poverty and social unrest from boiling over into conflict in scores of fragile states around the world. … Over the last two decades, the agency has shifted toward a much more cost-effective and efficient model: private sector and military partnerships. … It is in our interest to use the fastest and most effective means at our disposal — partnerships — to launch efforts that help bring peace and prosperity to regions that pose threats to our national security. We can do this by empowering the agency to provide the staff and seed money necessary to introduce the social and economic benefits of partnerships with the private sector and the U.S. military in the growing list of fragile states which may otherwise serve as breeding grounds for conflict” (5/12).