Unleashing “Civilian Power”: A New American Diplomacy through Neglected Tropical Disease Control, Elimination, Research, and Development

摘要

In a November/December 2010 article published in the influential journal Foreign Affairs, United States Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton articulated a new vision for American diplomacy and development through the strengthening of what she terms “civilian power” [1]. Stated briefly, the new doctrine calls for the creation of a new cadre of civilian experts who could jointly pursue diplomacy and international development for purposes of solving global challenges related to health, agriculture and food insecurity, environmental degradation, drugs and organized crime, energy, and climate change [1]. Through joint programs between the US Department of State and its United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the additional hiring of more than 1,000 Foreign and Civil Service Officers in each organization, and reflecting the results of a new Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, in the coming years the State Department and USAID would now work more closely to enhance global development in the context of diplomacy. The world's conflict and post-conflict zones and fragile states would represent key targets for international development efforts [1]. In this new doctrine, Secretary Clinton proposes that together the State Department and USAID would establish a premier global civilian service for responding to complex diplomatic and development challenges [1]. Achieving such an ambitious goal would also mandate that USAID look beyond its walls to embrace business, philanthropist, and citizen groups, with dual emphases on partnering with some of the large emerging market economies (EMEs), i.e., China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, and South Africa, for joint problem solving, and harnessing selected technologies, such as rapidly expanding cell phone access, for establishing a sustainable and lasting impact [1].