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Madeleine Albright on Priorities for Obama's Administration

Today, the Council on Foreign Relations hosted the first session of the Center for Preventative Action Symposium on preventative priorities for the next administration. Madeleine K. Albright, Principal, The Albright Group and former U.S. Secretary of State, moderated the event with CFR President Richard N. Haass. Interestingly, panels throughout the day did not focus heavily on the global financial crisis, threats posed by Al-Qaeda, wars in Iraq or Afghanistan, Iranian or North Korean nuclear ambitions, climate change, or any other major threats that the news has focused on so heavily. Rather, the day focused on the importance of crisis prevention - of anticipating threats not even yet on the horizon, rather than on immediate issues. Madeleine Albright and other panelists make a thought-provoking case.

Watch the event here.

Bill Gates calls for Obama to Increase Spending

Philanthropist and billionaire Bill Gates spoke in Washington DC yesterday encouraging President-Elect Obama to increase spending. Even in the midst of this financial crisis, Gates urged us not to lose sight of our future and not to sacrifice our long-term goals for short-term gain. He encouraged Obama to follow through on his campaign commitment to double U.S. foreign aid to $50 billion in his first year.

An article covering the speech in today's Washington Post paints Gates as a new philanthropist: someone who "is pioneering a new approach to philanthropy, applying the risk-taking and results-based philosophy of an entrepreneur to solving some of the world’s most chronic problems." This is the very same approach applied by members of our Global Philanthropy Forum - a community of donors and social investors that seek to inform, enable, and enhance the strategic nature of their giving and social investing. It's good to see major media venues talking about this 'new philanthropy', and we hope it helps elevate broader understanding of what it means to be strategic in one's giving.

Watch Gates' speech here. And read the Global Philanthropy Forum online debate on new philanthropy, or 'philanthrocapitalism' - the practice of applying business metrics to philanthropy - here.

Council Speakers make NY Times Notable List

Today, the New York Times released its list of the top ten books of the year. The top two non-fiction works listed are The Dark Side by Jane Mayer, and The Forever War by Dexter Filkins - both authors that spoke here at the World Affairs Council in the past few months. Listen to their talks here and here, respectively.

On The Dark Side, the NY Times writes:
"Mayer’s meticulously reported descent into the depths of President Bush’s anti­terrorist policies peels away the layers of legal and bureaucratic maneuvering that gave us Guantánamo Bay, “extraordinary rendition,” “enhanced” interrogation methods, “black sites,” warrantless domestic surveillance and all the rest. But Mayer also describes the efforts of unsung heroes, tucked deep inside the administration, who risked their careers in the struggle to balance the rule of law against the need to meet a threat unlike any other in the nation’s history."

And on Filkins and The Forever War:
"The New York Times correspondent, whose tours of duty have taken him from Afghanistan in 1998 to Iraq during the American intervention, captures a decade of armed struggle in harrowingly detailed vignettes. Whether interviewing jihadists in Kabul, accompanying marines on risky patrols in Falluja or visiting grieving families in Baghdad, Filkins makes us see, with almost hallucinogenic immediacy, the true human meaning and consequences of the 'war on terror.' (First Chapter)"

There's also a great interview with Mayer from the July edition of Harper's Magazine, and one with Filkins in the September issue of The Atlantic.

Asilomar Keynote named National Security Advisor

Yesterday in Chicago, President-Elect Obama introduced his national security team - the individuals that will lead us through the challenges posed by two complicated wars, rising nuclear threats, unrest in the Middle East, and persistent dependence on oil, among others.

For his National Security Advisor, Obama named General James L. Jones, a familiar face that spoke as our keynote speaker this year at our Annual Conference at Asilomar. And, more famously, a decorated combat veteran and polished diplomat who served the United States in the Marine Corps for more than 40 years. He served as the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe from 2003 to 2006, and since retiring in February of last year, is now the president and CEO of the Republican-dominated U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy.

Obama chose General Jones for his understanding of the connection between energy and security, and chiefly because of their shared desire to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Jones’ time in the White House will be spent coordinating defense and foreign policy among the Pentagon, State Department, intelligence agencies and others – and most of this will likely relate to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with little time left for energy policy. Jones’s history indicates that he will support a national energy policy advocating for more of all kinds of power, and renewable energy will be just one part of the solution, not the central focus.A point that some observers believe will lead to disagreements between Jones and more pro-green revolution types in the new administration.

Mr. Obama hopes that General Jones' strong position in both diplomacy and security will help the new administration better integrate efforts across sectors, and enable him to mediate between rivals. We look forward to seeing what role he plays in integrating our security policy with energy policy in the coming years.

Unrest in Zimbabwe: is the Tide Turning?

All health, sanitation and water supply services have collapsed in Zimbabwe. A nationwide cholera epidemic is spreading, almost half of the population is in need of food aid, water is in short supply, and the government remains deadlocked over a power sharing agreement. This morning, about 40 soldiers began looting shops in downtown Harare and marching through the streets, recruiting sympathizers, chanting "enough is enough" after growing impatient while waiting in long bank lines for their salaries. The riot was the third to take place this week. But today, these looters were President Mugabe’s own soldiers - the men who normally put down riots, not incite them. Never before have Mugabe's own security forces acted out against the state, and the significance should not be ignored. They are the core of his support, and if he loses them, he may lose everything.

The riots come just a few days after Elders Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General, Jimmy Carter, former US President, and Graca Maçhel, human rights activist, attempted to visit the country to assess the humanitarian situation. Mugabe denied them entry visas, and so the Elders met with refugees outside the country and chastised the international community - particularly southern African leaders - for not doing more to help end the crisis. Jane Wales, World Affairs Council CEO & President, served as the Acting CEO for the Elders in their first year, from July 2007 until July 2008.

In April, Jane Wales spoke in conversation with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Chairman of the Elders, at the Global Philanthropy Forum 2008 conference in Redwood City. Also present were Helene Gayle, CEO of CARE, and Gareth Evans, President of Crisis Group.

Beginning at about 1min and 20 seconds in, they speak about the situation in Zimbabwe and options for the country going forward.

Vetting Senator Clinton...

As President-Elect Obama prepares for taking office on January 20th, speculation abounds on the names surfacing as potentials for major cabinet positions. One name that has been the subject of much discussion in the past few days is that of Senator Hillary Clinton. President-Elect Obama met with her in Chicago to discuss the possibility of naming her as the next Secretary of State. In the vetting process, however, it is her husband, former President Bill Clinton, that is under the most media scrutiny.

In an article from today's issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, World Affairs Council President & CEO Jane Wales is quoted on what this process will mean for President Clinton's philanthropic work, and how Senator Hillary Clinton's appointment might change and restrict the work of the Clinton Foundation, and President Clinton's work more generally.

Here, Jane Wales interviews President Clinton at the Aspen Ideas Fest about the power of philanthropy to affect change and other global issues.

Honoring Muhammad Yunus & his Microfinance Movement

Tonight, the World Affairs Council of Northern California honors Nobel Peace Prize recipient Professor Muhammad Yunus at our 2008 Awards Dinner held at the Ritz Carlton. We celebrate the progress the microfinance industry has made in eradicating global poverty by honoring the roots it as has grown in Northern California. We recognize three local companies representative of these efforts: Kiva, MicroCredit Enterprises and MicroPlace. As part of our gift of thanks to Professor Yunus, the musical group Talisman will give a live performance.

In preparation for the event, World Affairs Council CEO & President Jane Wales published an op-ed on how tested microfinance strategies from the developing world can be applied here at home. Read the op-ed as it appeared in last Friday's San Francisco Chronicle.

Looking Forward: Making Good on our Promises to the Poor

Across all panels in the past two days, and especially this morning, we have seen that technological innovation now arms us with unprecedented opportunities for alleviating poverty. In our final panel for the poverty alleviation track, we heard about the nexus between information and poverty from moderator Sonal Shah, Head of Global Development Initiative at Google.org, Holly Ladd, President & Director of AED-SATELLIFE, Brian Richardson, Founder & Managing Director of WIZZIT Bank in South Africa, and Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President & CEO of Women’s World Banking. Each panelist highlighted the great opportunity presented by mobile technology in expanding and accelerating access to financial services, and explored other ways to leverage information technology to strengthen the service delivery of existing health and microfinance initiatives. Sonal asked each to discuss how technology can best collect and share information about poor communities and individuals, such as demographics, health statistics, credit history, etc.

Holly emphasized that our challenge is to alleviate the burden of disease, so that we can move to alleviate the burden of poverty; creating wealth by creating health. She argued for the use of new technology to capture data more effectively - and more importantly, to make every effort to make this information widely available. Brian seeks to provide affordability, accessibility, and availability in financial services for the poor, and believes that mobile technology is the best way to achieve this. Banking via mobile phones enables up-and-coming entrepreneurs to save valuable amounts of time and productivity. While there remains a lot to be done on regulation and building trust in the security of mobile banking, he is working to prove scalability and commercial viability to take his model global. Mary Ellen pointed out that despite the attention the microfinance movement has received, only 133 million people in the world have access to its services. Banks need information on customers, but we must work out the sensitivities of who owns the information. Sorting this will be fundamental to enabling microfinance to have the impact that it can and should.

At the close of working group sessions, we all moved to the ballroom for the final plenary with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Clinton. We learned of the range and depth of commitments made this year in our 3 days together, and heard from past commitment makers who have made extraordinary progress. Prime Minister Brown spoke of the financial crisis, and argued that there is no future for isolationism, just as there is no future for protectionism. The essential thing to do is to begin to restore confidence in markets, and to do so globally – for this global problem requires a global solution. President Clinton reflected that instead of pouring money into the narrow housing market, we should have invested in our poor neighborhoods, in a clean, independent energy future - in solar power or wind power or bio-diesel or electric cars - into making an energy partnership with Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and our other neighbors in the Caribbean. It would have been a different world out there, and a lot fewer people would have taken improvident risk. He urged us not to forget that as it turns out, doing the right thing is the best economics, and that over the long run, it’s the best politics too.

Now that CGI has concluded for another year and production staff is busy pulling down the lights and microphones, we must pause, reflect, and take with us what we’ve learned. The poor are worthy of our efforts and it is time for us to make good on our promises. It requires a real commitment and true audacity from each of us. I have been moved by each of the members of CGI - experts, activists, philanthropists - and I look forward to advancing their work and the work of others in the year ahead.

Jane Wales
President & CEO, World Affairs Council of Northern California
Working Group Chair, Poverty Alleviation, Clinton Global Initiative

Day 2: How will we Shape the Landscape of the 21st Century?

This morning, we were swept onto the campaign trail as Senators Obama and McCain shared their plans for US policy in each of CGI’s four focus areas: education, poverty alleviation, climate change, and global health. Each addressed the current financial crisis, and the international cooperation that we need going forward to overcome it. Both also discussed the imperative of addressing malaria, diversifying our energy use, and improving education. Senator Obama emphasized the role we each have to play – “the scale of our challenges may be great; the pace of change may be swift, but we know that it need not be feared. The landscape of the 21st century is still ours to shape.”

Each candidate touched on the rise of food prices globally. Over the past 24 months, grain prices have doubled, prices of fertilizers and fuels have tripled, and 30 countries across the world have seen food riots. Today in areas as distinct as Haiti, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia, millions of people face starvation. Devastation wrought by drought, misguided corn ethanol subsidies, and protectionist agricultural policies have skyrocketed world grain prices, spiraling many of the worlds poor further into poverty.

In light of this relationship between food security and poverty, the Poverty Alleviation Track started the day with a panel on this topic. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright argued that we must frame the food crisis as an issue of national security if we are to overcome our ‘crisis fatigue’ and drive our leaders to take action. There is the danger of a ‘billiard ball effect’, of domestic policies that worsen the situation in neighboring countries, leading to heightened tensions and the risk of conflict. Amos Namanga Ngongi of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) explained the need to focus on small-holder farmers, for they constitute the vast majority of farmers in Africa. He emphasized taking a comprehensive approach to smallholder agricultural development, improving seeds, soil, production, and transportation to market. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, CEO of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, believes commodity exchanges bring necessary order, integrity, efficiency and transparency to all market actors – and thereby reduce risk. She has set up electronic price boards throughout Ethiopia to instantaneously provide crucial price information to farmers, consumers and traders. Ken Lee, co-founder of Lotus Foods, described the labor intensity required to educate US consumers about the value of traditional agriculture sourced from developing countries, pointing out that customers are willing to pay a premium for these products. At table discussions, CGI members identified the importance of increasing small farmers’ access to finance, leveraging information technology to strengthen the entire value chain, and instituting legal protection for land ownership.

Nick Kristof of the New York Times built on these early themes with our post-conflict panel, where speakers emphasized the risk of falling back in to conflict, and the need for post-conflict leaders to provide immediate results in improving livelihoods and opportunities, giving former combatants a stake in the new order. One in two countries that has emerged from conflict will return to violent conflict within five years, and thus immediate and sustained action is crucial. Peter Buffett of the NoVo Foundation, Donald Kaberuka of the African Development Bank, and Mayu Brizuela of HSBC El Salvador, all underscored that women must be central at all stages -- from ending conflict, to restoring trust and to securing longer term stability and development. Peter warned against ‘philanthropic colonialism’, or assuming that we know best - instead we must see, experience, and listen to the people we are trying to help, because they know best.

We concluded the day with a joint panel with the Climate track to explore the interplay between the climate crisis and poverty. We learned that while climate change will have the most devastating effect on the poor, addressing this crisis poses an opportunity for lifting the poor from poverty through millions of new green jobs. The panel urged outside-the-box thinking when it comes to addressing these challenges simultaneously. Dr. Pachauri, Director General of TERI – The Energy Resources Institute-- provided the example of his “Lighting a Billion Lives” initiative whereby women entrepreneurs rent out solar powered flashlights to communities in India that are not currently electrified, enabling school children to study at night and villagers to eke out a better living. President Calderón of Mexico called for the creation of a Green Fund that all countries could contribute to and take from to respond to consequences of climate change. And Oakland's Van Jones and Judith Rodin of the Rockefeller Foundation put forward the need to bring new partners to a “Green Growth Alliance” to realize the economic potential for creating millions of new green jobs.

All in all, a whirlwind day – brimming with ideas and opportunities in the face of crisis.

Jane Wales
President & CEO, World Affairs Council of Northern California
Working Group Chair, Poverty Alleviation, Clinton Global Initiative

At the Clinton Global Initiative: Bono and others Find Hope Amidst the Financial Crisis

“This country that we sit in is a great country. And it’s a great country because it’s not just a country, it’s an idea. And that idea was supposed to be contagious - it’s bound up in the idea of the inalienable rights of men and women and children, equal in the eyes of God.” This morning, at the opening of the 4th Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, Bono called each of us to action. He asked us to place the current financial meltdown in a larger context - to remember the privilege from which we come, and of our responsibility to help those who have been living with this kind of insecurity for their entire lives. Joining him on stage, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Vice President Al Gore, and fellow panelists introduced the four focus areas of CGI – Poverty Alleviation, Climate Change, Education, and Global Health. Queen Rania of Jordan highlighted in particular the need for a paradigm shift in how we view education – that we must see it not just as the responsibility of government, but of everyone. This shift is needed across all issues – for we each must have a stake in improving these pillars of society.

As Working Group Chair for the poverty track, I structured each of our panels to address a core dimension of poverty. We began today with a panel discussion on strengthening financial services for the poor. While we in the rich world consider ways to rescue and repair our financial services industry, 2.3 billion people in the world have been living without access to any financial services. Even in the face of frightening developments in our own markets, we must work to reach these people. Confidence makes or breaks financial systems - and right now, we lack it. Robert Rubin, former Secretary of the Treasury in both Clinton Administrations, and now Director and Chairman of Citi’s Executive Committee, spoke on the panel about the current financial melt-down and its implications for the poor. He identified our situation as a “crisis of confidence,” and emphasized that we must address it as such. We need responsive action to restore confidence, and must prepare for the hugely consequential challenges this crisis poses, especially in helping the poor move in to the mainstream.

Dr. Julio Frenk, a Senior Fellow for the Global Health Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Mexico’s former Minister of Health, spoke powerfully on the links between health and poverty. He believes health insurance is crucial in mitigating the risks that drive people in to poverty, and that micro finance institutions should work in partnership with government to provide health services. He noted that the high cost of health and medical care has driven more than half a billion people in to poverty around the world. As President Clinton said almost fifteen years ago, millions of people in the world are only one serious illness away from losing their savings. We must provide services to help the poor protect their assets in the face of these risks. Fazle Abed, Founder and Chairman of BRAC, highlighted the regulatory constraints that currently limit NGOs from accepting savings deposits, thereby forcing microfinance institutions to borrow money to provide loans, which is not a sustainable model. CEO and Managing Director of Equity Bank in Kenya, James Mwangi argued that we should adopt a philosophy of “taking banking services to the people,” which Equity Bank does through mobile vans powered by solar panels and equipped with simple computer technology that travel to poor villages. The poor need savings products that are structured with no restrictions regarding frequency or amount – Mwangi believes this simplicity is key to usability.

Our audience participants concluded that we must decrease fraud, improve transparency, encourage cross-sector collaboration, and impose new regulations to ensure stability and flexibility in financial services – advice we can all appreciate, and should bear in mind as we react to the crisis in our own financial system.

Jane Wales
President & CEO, World Affairs Council of Northern California
Working Group Chair, Poverty Alleviation, Clinton Global Initiative

John Zogby, “America’s Pollster General,” interviewed by Jane Wales

“Who’s going to win?” It was the question on everyone’s mind Tuesday night at the Herbst Theatre, where World Affairs Council CEO & President Jane Wales spoke in conversation with “America’s Pollster General,” John Zogby, President & CEO of Zogby International. Jane posed the question to divine his insights on the upcoming Presidential election this November. Since 1966, John Zogby has been polling both domestically and abroad on the most pressing political issues of the day. He correctly predicted almost all of the 2006 U.S. Senate races and was also credited with most accurately calling the Iran election this past year.

In response to Ms. Wale’s opening question, Mr. Zogby painted a picture of the two candidates as he sees it. He described Senator Obama as the new face of America’s future, a true globalist representing a new generation of leadership - in other words, a Jack Kennedy. Zogby painted Senator McCain as a face from two generations past, a man who stands for sacrifice, patriotism, and country above all else, who knows the ins and outs of Washington, and is running against his own party - a Harry Truman figure. Zogby compared these traits to what Americans claim to be looking for in a president, data that he has from a recent poll where he asked Americans to list what they want most in a president - first on this list was a problem solver, followed by someone capable of managing the government, working across the aisle, and possessing strong personal values (not Christian values - which ranked last in the poll).

Wales probed Zogby on his findings of international opinions of the United States and its politics, and the implications for foreign policy. Zogby posited that the response to Hurricane Katrina will prove to be a more defining moment in U.S. history than 9/11 for it showed how deeply broken our system is - and he believes that our invasion of Iraq was that defining moment for the international community - revealing our broken and reckless system to the entire world. He described the invasion as a “screw-up of massive proportions” in terms of international opinion, and compared the surge to a “wonderful game of whack-a-mole” - regardless of official statements from Washington, the surge is not succeeding. Any reduction in violence has happened because the Sunni leadership outside of Baghdad has made their peace for purely personal reasons, unrelated to the surge. In a recent poll he conducted in the Middle East, Zogby found that Iraq, Abu Ghraib, and Palestine were the most significant outrages in opinion of the U.S., and that "betrayal" and "humiliation" are the two words that best describe the relationship between our two regions. Zogby concluded with a call for a deep commitment to broader public diplomacy - a commitment of money, time, visa programs, internships, exchanges - to make a real effort to present the best of this country to the rest of the world, while we still can. A sad and sobering note, and one that we all hope can be repaired with the next administration, whoever it may be. Even John Zogby, pollster general, can’t call this one.

Listen to the program here.

A new venture...

We stand at a critical crossroads on the global stage. Our most pressing issues -- from economic competitiveness to climate change, from global health to stemming the proliferation of advanced weapons -- will require unprecedented levels of collaboration and engagement by all sectors of US society, including the private and citizen sectors. Government alone cannot solve all of our critical problems.

In this context, the World Affairs Council of Northern California has a unique role to play.

The World Affairs Council and its Global Philanthropy Forum create a space where diverse audiences engage in dialogue that can inform their actions. Policy makers, business executives, philanthropists, academics, students, civic leaders and an attentive public join in the Council’s programs to listen, learn discuss and debate – deepening understanding and finding solutions.

Here in this blog, my colleagues and I at the Council will share with you some of the stories and insights that we are privileged to experience through our position at the nexus of policy and philanthropy. We will be reporting from the Global Philanthropy Forum, the Aspen Institute, the Clinton Global Initiative, and from events here at the Council, in the news, and elsewhere. I hope that this will be an effective way to continue the engaged debate for which the Council was created, and that the stories shared, issues discussed, and challenges posed in this forum will inspire you to approach our global challenges with your open mind and enterprising spirit, for those are the characteristics that define our remarkable community.

Jane Wales

President & CEO of the World Affairs Council

President & Co-Founder, Global Philanthropy Forum
Vice President, Philanthropy & Society, The Aspen Institute
Working Group Chair, Poverty Alleviation, Clinton Global Initiative