Subject: Ukraine, West Point, and Smart Power
From: "Liz Schrayer, USGLC" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 2 Jun 2014 12:55:43 -0500 (CDT)

U.S. Global Leadership Coalition

I was pleased to see the successful elections last week
in Ukraine, a hopeful sign after months of such turmoil. It was an
interesting backdrop to President Obama's West Point commencement speech where he outlined his foreign policy doctrine. While I will leave the
analysis of the speech to others, I was taken by his complete
rejection of isolationism stating that engagement in the world was "not an option."

But perhaps what was most unusual was a West Point speech
that completely embraced the importance of foreign assistance and
civilian power. The President punctuated numerous
references of the power of global development and diplomacy, stating
"foreign assistance isn't an afterthought...It's part of what makes us strong."

Here's more from our blog.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=R-q4xJY9IN0dThnaBdaZCA

A few other items of interest:

*  USAID's
Raj Shah outlined development successes from Afghanistan in the
Washington Post

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=1kV4ns2gpX47IzIWuigH_g

*  Former
Secretary of Commerce and Kellogg CEO, Carlos
Gutierrez made a strong case for why international affairs
matters to our
economy in the Miami Herald

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=uAM8hEdCKXAldFo0h1RcnQ

*  Two
Veterans for Smart Power wrote
a meaningful op-ed for Memorial Day

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=HFTZG8VG0CMefqcpXyAzQQ

That was the good news. Unfortunately, the Senate Appropriations Committee cut $3 billion in base funding for international programs. While the shortfall will be made up by "emergency war funding," it is a serious problem, and we are working to reverse this as the budget process continues.

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=tKzj_Jjy42R2jDPxKwz8Yg

Lastly, I just got back from Miami where we hosted a powerful event featuring the chairs of the

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=4b7IhiHhQQMmQwOPJvy5nw

Democratic National Committee and the American Conservative Union. Even for us, this is an unusual pairing and while they are politically polar opposites, they are both good friends of ours who share a commitment to the smart power agenda.

Many thanks for your continued interest. 

Liz Schrayer
Executive Director

P.S. - If you haven't registered for our State Leaders Conference on June 17-18 in Washington, I hope you will join us for two important days with the best minds in foreign policy and meetings on Capitol Hill. http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=HHK1v_tqNVeASPr14fR8_g

http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Pb2d7hsXnr2p_nQRPkd3xg

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