2.3: Foreign Policy
Advance and Protect U.S. Foreign Policy Interests Other Information:
In the second decade of the 21st century, the United States will continue to see growing challenges to its foreign policy
interests, which include promoting global peace, prosperity, and stability. As boundaries become more fluid, more people,
goods, money, culture, and information move across them more rapidly. As a result, the United States will be increasingly
faced with international challenges, and Americans will more keenly feel the effects of these challenges, which include: „„
unstable and failed states; „„ ongoing terrorist and proliferation threats; „„ humanitarian, economic, and political crises;
„„ breakdowns in multilateral consensus; and „„ a tarnished U.S. image abroad. These complex challenges will call for flexible
and multifaceted government responses that combine sustained international security interventions, including vigilant international
counterterrorism and nonproliferation efforts, with effective U.S. foreign assistance, collaborative multilateral participation,
and strong U.S. diplomatic presence. GAO identified advancing U.S. efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan as a major government
challenge in November 2009 (see http:// www.gao.gov/highrisk/). Such activities cross organizational and programmatic boundaries
and put a premium on strategic planning, interagency coordination, and international partnerships. These activities will also
require substantial resources. For example, the U.S. government has already provided more than $100 billion to State, DOD,
the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other agencies for stabilization and reconstruction, and for capacity-building
efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan. International security: Major U.S. security operations will continue in Iraq and
Afghanistan and around the world to maintain peace among nations or stabilize states, either unilaterally or with the support
of U.S. allies—including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and United Nations (UN) peacekeepers. In other conflict
areas, the UN is working to build sustainable peace in 15 peacekeeping operations worldwide, including Darfur, Lebanon, and
the Democratic Republic of the Congo; however, the lack of donor country resources hinders some operations from fully carrying
out their mandates. The U.S. government, along with other member countries, is helping the UN address resource challenges,
particularly with regard to specialized military units, police, and civilians. The United States will continue to provide
bilateral security assistance and pursue programs that counter transnational threats in order to foster international security—including,
for example, drug and arms trafficking, which not only destabilizes the U.S.–Mexico border, but also continues to affect regional
stability in strategically important areas of Asia and Latin America. Nevertheless, achieving U.S. objectives to stabilize
regional conflicts and address security challenges will require long-term efforts. Building and sustaining such efforts requires
commitment, coordination, resources, and consensus—which can be difficult to obtain in the face of competing international
priorities and strained resource bases. GAO’s work will help the Congress monitor these complex security challenges, including
the implications of the planned drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq and buildup of forces in Afghanistan. International counterterrorism:
Since 2001, the United States has increased and realigned its resources, as well as developed strategies to achieve the critical
national security goal of disrupting, dismantling, and defeating terrorist threats and closing terrorist safe havens, such
as Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas and border region with Afghanistan, that provide protection to those who
seek to threaten U.S. interests and citizens at home and abroad: In conjunction with international „„partners, the United
States spearheads global efforts to identify and disrupt active international terrorist groups, such as al Qaeda, and reduce
their flow of support (e.g., from terrorist financing and violent extremists). Various U.S. international agencies are engaged
in activities to more effectively block the entry of terrorists and criminals; protect U.S. personnel overseas; and pursue
military, intelligence, law enforcement, development, diplomatic, and economic efforts to erode terrorist networks and their
sources of support. To advance these efforts, U.S. „„agencies will continue a variety of counterterrorism-related assistance
programs to provide partner nations with training and equipment and improve bilateral ties. For example, U.S. agencies will
help train and equip foreign countries to prevent, combat, and respond to terrorism and will invest billions of dollars to
replace or harden government facilities overseas. The U.S. government has renewed its „„emphasis on key programs to protect
U.S. borders and prevent the entry of those who are a danger to the United States or are likely to remain in the United States
illegally. Additionally, the United States is „„increasing the use of nonmilitary efforts, such as giving economic and development
assistance, to address terrorist threats abroad. GAO will address continuing concerns about whether government agencies are
effectively coordinating an international approach to combating terrorism. GAO will also assess whether agencies have efforts
under way to mitigate program, resource, and security challenges that would otherwise adversely affect their missions. Nonproliferation:
The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction continues to receive heightened attention because of concerns that terrorists
or a rogue regime could threaten the United States with nuclear, chemical, radiological, or biological attack. The centerpiece
of U.S. nonproliferation efforts is a multibilliondollar array of efforts by DOD, the Department of Energy, and State to help
former Soviet states control and reduce their vast, diverse holdings of Cold War-era nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons
and their related delivery systems and infrastructure. However, U.S. programs have moved beyond past agreements with the former
Soviet Union to focus on risks from other countries and terrorist networks seeking weapons of mass destruction. The United
States is renewing nonproliferation efforts, as shown by the President’s September 2009 address to the UN, in which he emphasized
the need to curb Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs, reach new nuclear agreements with Russia, and provide highlevel
attention to arms control agreements, such as the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The United States also seeks ways to strengthen
and modernize multilateral export controls over sensitive technologies and weapon systems through its national export control
system and multilateral arrangements with other nations that trade in these technologies. GAO’s work will help the Congress
maintain attention on the serious threats posed by the international spread of these weapons and related technologies. Foreign
assistance: Bilateral and multilateral foreign assistance is central to advancing U.S. international interests, and the U.S.
government’s process for managing such assistance continues to evolve. Policymakers have pursued organizational and procedural
changes intended to enhance the effective use of foreign assistance. Furthermore, increased momentum for additional foreign
assistance reforms may result from a presidential directive examining development policy and the first Quadrennial Diplomacy
and Development Review, announced in July 2009. These changes have sought to more fully align programs carried out by State,
USAID, and the more than 25 other U.S. departments and agencies involved in delivering U.S. development, humanitarian, and
economic assistance and carrying out activities fostering democracy and human rights. For example, the U.S. government will
provide about $24.2 billion for such assistance in 2010, including basic education, disaster relief, and aid to refugees in
strategic regions such as Africa and Asia. For 2011, the President requested about $1.28 billion to provide developing countries
with development assistance through the Millennium Challenge Corporation. The administration has committed to increasing foreign
assistance—seeking to double it by 2015—and is emphasizing development—building countries’ capacities for transformational
change— as a key element of U.S. foreign policy. These efforts support the globally agreed Millennium Development Goals set
through the UN a decade ago. In addition to these bilateral efforts, the United States delivers some of this foreign assistance
through international partners and a wide variety of multilateral organizations, including the UN and related agencies. In
2009, major donor countries agreed to a $22 billion, 3-year commitment for agriculture and food security for developing countries.
The U.S. share of this commitment—at least $3.5 billion—includes $1.2 billion toward the administration’s Global Hunger and
Food Security (or Feed the Future) initiative in fiscal year 2010, representing more than double the fiscal year 2009 budget
request. Moreover, the President proposed $63 billion in funding for all global health programs through 2014, with more than
70 percent of this amount for AIDS relief. In signing the Copenhagen Accord at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference,
the United States committed to join with other developed countries to provide new and additional resources approaching $30
billion from 2010 to 2012 and to jointly mobilize $100 billion by 2020 to support developing countries in combating climate
change. Nevertheless, the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti is an example of an unforeseen major event that may place new demands
on foreign assistance resources and require changes in agency plans. GAO’s work will focus on helping the Congress assess
the efficiency and impact of U.S. foreign assistance. Membership in multilateral organizations: U.S. participation in a wide
variety of multilateral organizations— including the UN and 11 related agencies (such as the International Atomic Energy Agency),
the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and four regional development banks—was sometimes debated during the last
administration. It remains to be seen whether the new administration will work more through multilateral forums to build international
consensus for actions that further U.S. foreign policy goals. Although multilateral organizations facilitate international
cooperation in many areas, questions continue to arise about these organizations’ effectiveness and their ability to advance
U.S. interests. As a result, the United States will remain a strong advocate of action within multilateral organizations to
(1) address today’s needs, threats, and opportunities; (2) become more efficient and effective; and (3) ensure financial and
programmatic accountability for funds that member nations provide. For example, the United States has urged the UN to implement
key management reforms and improve its internal controls and has supported efforts to combat corruption in international organizations’
programs. GAO’s key efforts will help the Congress monitor the success of these efforts and may provide further impetus for
such improvements. U.S. diplomatic presence: The United States must safeguard and ensure the strategic use of U.S. government
personnel and resources overseas as they are called on to operate in a growing number of dangerous locations. U.S. diplomats
are working to adapt to today’s highly volatile global environment and to instantaneous worldwide communications. As a result,
in November 2009, GAO identified “ensuring effective representation of U.S. diplomatic interests and image” as a major government
challenge that it now tracks on GAO’s High Risk and Other Major Government Challenges Web site.33 Throughout the world, the
public face of the United States generates strong opinions, both positive and negative. Negative perceptions of the United
States persist in many locations, despite the investment of billions of dollars on communication designed to advance U.S.
strategic interests abroad and promote U.S. national security objectives, such as countering ideological support for violent
extremism. Enhancing the U.S. public image overseas and engaging foreign audiences directly through social networks and technologies
(such as Facebook and Twitter) could help the U.S. government achieve its foreign policy and assistance objectives. In addition,
U.S. diplomatic readiness is compromised by several issues, including human-capital and physical-infrastructure challenges,
which have prompted reforms that continue to affect the overseas presence of about 23,000 U.S. staff from more than 30 agencies
who work in more than 260 diplomatic posts in about 180 countries. For example, State must continue to address persistent
staffing gaps at critical posts and shortfalls in foreign language capabilities, both of which compromise diplomatic readiness.
State has undertaken several initiatives to address these problems, but has not done so in a comprehensive and strategic manner.
More broadly, the potential is great for overlap and poorly coordinated roles and responsibilities with so many agencies involved
in U.S. foreign affairs activities. GAO will help the Congress seek to ensure that: critical programs achieve their intended
„„results; the U.S. government has a sound strategic „„plan for carrying out its foreign affairs functions and activities;
and resources are aligned with needs, „„particularly to ensure that new secure embassy compounds—which can cost hundreds of
millions of dollars—are designed for the right number of staff. GAO’s key efforts will help the Congress guide the evolution
of U.S. diplomacy and presence overseas. GAO’s work on issues that advance and protect U.S. foreign policy interests will
continue to look across programmatic, organizational, and geographic boundaries to bring objective perspective and thoughtful
analysis to inform policymakers and the public. To support efforts by the Congress and the federal government to address these
challenges in international security, counterterrorism, nonproliferation, foreign assistance, multilateral organizations,
and U.S. diplomatic presence, GAO has established the following performance goals and key efforts:
Indicator(s):
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