2010.01.15: Samoa RPCV Steve Radelet is under consideration for what would be a new senior State Department post advising Hillary Clinton and the State Department on development issues

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Samoa: Peace Corps Samoa : Peace Corps Samoa: Newest Stories: 2010.01.15: Samoa RPCV Steve Radelet is under consideration for what would be a new senior State Department post advising Hillary Clinton and the State Department on development issues

By Admin1 (admin) (151.196.40.252) on Friday, February 19, 2010 - 2:22 pm: Edit Post

Samoa RPCV Steve Radelet is under consideration for what would be a new senior State Department post advising Hillary Clinton and the State Department on development issues

Samoa RPCV Steve Radelet is under consideration for what would be a new senior State Department post advising Hillary Clinton and the State Department on development issues

Associates speak very highly of Radelet. "Radelet is sensational," one former senior State Department official said. "Father of the Millennium Challenge Corp., conceptually. Brilliant." A former Treasury Department DAS for Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, Radelet has worked on debt restructuring, policy development and international financial relations issues concerning Pakistan, Indonesia, Turkey and Africa. A Harvard PhD and former lecturer there, Radelet served as the Harvard Institute for International Development resident advisor in Indonesia. A former Peace Corps volunteer in the Samoa Islands himself, Radelet is married to the deputy director of the Peace Corps, Carrie Hessler-Radelet.

Samoa RPCV Steve Radelet is under consideration for what would be a new senior State Department post advising Hillary Clinton and the State Department on development issues

New development appointment mulled as reviews advance

Development community experts say that the conceptual architect of the Millenium Challenge Corporation, Steve Radelet, is under consideration for what would be a new senior State Department post advising Hillary Clinton and the State Department on development issues.

Radelet, currently a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development where Clinton delivered a speech on her development vision last week, did not respond to queries.

But an administration official speaking on background acknowledged the Radelet appointment is under consideration, and a possibility.

Development sources suggested the post is being conceived as a high level advisory one, that likely will not require Senate confirmation. While some development hands thought the appointee would also serve a coordination role between State, USAID, the Millenium Challenge Corporation and PEPFAR, an official waved that off as unlikely.

One rationale described for the mulled appointment was Clinton's desire to elevate development issues in the Department. Another was Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew's plate being extremely full and his and Clinton's desire for him to be able to focus on State management and budget issues.

Associates speak very highly of Radelet. "Radelet is sensational," one former senior State Department official said. "Father of the Millennium Challenge Corp., conceptually. Brilliant."

A former Treasury Department DAS for Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, Radelet has worked on debt restructuring, policy development and international financial relations issues concerning Pakistan, Indonesia, Turkey and Africa. A Harvard PhD and former lecturer there, Radelet served as the Harvard Institute for International Development resident advisor in Indonesia. A former Peace Corps volunteer in the Samoa Islands himself, Radelet is married to the deputy director of the Peace Corps, Carrie Hessler-Radelet.

The rumored Radelet appointment consideration comes amid a flurry of activity underway on restructuring U.S. government development and foreign assistance.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee offered its vision for restructuring U.S. foreign assistance in a report this week. "This is in some sense a Congressional complement" to Clinton's development speech last week," one committee aide said. "Where we hope to see both the QDDR and foreign aid reform and constraints out there in the development landscape and potential reforms." Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has also led Congressional rethinking of U.S. foreign assistance.

Meantime, State and USAID are preparing their Quadrenniel Diplomacy and Development Review, with an interim draft expected in February. State Department Director of Policy Planning Anne-Marie Slaughter is leading the QDDR review in an executive director-type capacity, with State's Karen Hanrahan, a former State rule of law advisor in Iraq and aide to AfPak envoy Richard Holbrooke, serving as a key deputy/COO.

The White House is also leading an inter-agency development policy review, officially co-chaired by the NSC's Jim Jones and the National Economic Council's Larry Summers (Summers was like Radelet a former Harvard advisor to the Indonesian government). The NSC/NEC's Gayle Smith, a former Clinton-era NSC Africa hand and USAID chief of staff, is taking the lead on the White House review, reporting to Jones and Summers through Michael Froman, the deputy for international economic affairs.

Smith led the team advising the Obama campaign on development and democracy issues. Radelet co-chaired the development subgroup for the campaign with Brookings' Noam Unger.

Hill sources said State had asked the White House to let it complete its QDDR before issuing their inter-agency development review findings and recommendations.

USAID administrator Raj Shah, who was confirmed to the job less than a month ago, has hit the ground running helping lead the U.S. Haiti quake relief response, with USAID having rushed eight disaster response teams to the country to help pull people out of the rubble.

Shah is also expected to be making appointments for his team at USAID. Maura O'Neill, a University of California Berkeley business school lecturer who served as Shah's chief of staff at the Department of Agriculture, is identifying potential hires while serving as his advisor on innovation, sources say.

"There's a bit of horse trading between him and State and the White House," one source said. "I am not sure who goes where."

Rob Goldberg, a former OMB official (like Lew), has also recently come on board at State as deputy director of the State Department's foreign assistance office.

The top "F" job is currently vacant, and is not expected to be filled until after State completes its QDDR, and the position may be restructured. Under the Bush administration, F, the State Department's director of foreign assistance, was dual-hatted as USAID Administrator (first Randall Tobias, then Henrietta Fore), so far not the case with new USAID administrator Shah.




Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: January, 2010; Peace Corps Samoa; Directory of Samoa RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Samoa RPCVs; Development; Diplomacy; USAID





When this story was posted in February 2010, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers RSS Feed

 Site Index Search PCOL with Google Contact PCOL Recent Posts Bulletin Board Open Discussion RPCV Directory Register

Feb 10, 2010: Senator Dodd to Retire Date: February 19 2010 No: 1433 Feb 10, 2010: Senator Dodd to Retire
Dodd retires from Senate 6 Jan
Cameron Hume named US Ambassador to Pakistan 8 Feb
Florida RPCVs sponsor Everglades Experience 6 Feb
Jeff Hall brings aid to Sierra Leone 1 Feb
Peace Corps to reach 11,000 PCVs in 2016 1 Feb
Hugh Pickens writes: Standing Bear Looks to the Future 27 Jan
Ann Varghese survives 55 hours in Haiti rubble 26 Jan
John Guy LaPlante at 80 was oldest PCV 17 Jan
Steve Radelet to advise Hilary Clinton on Development 15 Jan
Obituary for Co-Author of ‘The Ugly American' 14 Jan
Peace Corps Establishes Program in Indonesia 11 Dec
What Happened to Obama's Promise? 3 Dec
George Packer writes: Obama's Troubles 24 Nov
PC Mourns Loss of Morocco PCV So-Youn Kim 17 Nov
Peace Corps volunteers return to Madagascar 16 Nov
PC to grow by several thousand over next 2 years 15 Nov
Former Hostage John Limbert named to Iran Bureau 11 Nov
Carrie Hessler Radelet named PC Deputy Director 9 Nov
Garamendi Sworn into Congress 9 Nov
Jesse Lonergan writes graphic novel "Joe and Azat" 4 Nov
David Macaray writes: Hearts and Minds in Afghanistan 29 Oct
Dustin Hogenson writes: Sauna in Kazakstan 26 Oct


Memo to Incoming Director Williams Date: August 24 2009 No: 1419 Memo to Incoming Director Williams
PCOL has asked five prominent RPCVs and Staff to write a memo on the most important issues facing the Peace Corps today. Issues raised include the independence of the Peace Corps, political appointments at the agency, revitalizing the five-year rule, lowering the ET rate, empowering volunteers, removing financial barriers to service, increasing the agency's budget, reducing costs, and making the Peace Corps bureaucracy more efficient and responsive. Latest: Greetings from Director Williams

Join Us Mr. President! Date: June 26 2009 No: 1380 Join Us Mr. President!
"We will double the size of the Peace Corps by its 50th anniversary in 2011. And we'll reach out to other nations to engage their young people in similar programs, so that we work side by side to take on the common challenges that confront all humanity," said Barack Obama during his campaign. Returned Volunteers rally and and march to the White House to support a bold new Peace Corps for a new age. Latest: Senator Dodd introduces Peace Corps Improvement and Expansion Act of 2009 .

Meet Aaron Williams - Our Next Director Date: July 30 2009 No: 1411 Meet Aaron Williams - Our Next Director
Senator Dodd's Senate Subcommittee held confirmation hearings for Aaron Williams to become the 18th Peace Corps Director. "It's exciting to have a nominee who served in the Peace Corps and also has experience in international development and management," said Dodd as he put Williams on the fast track to be confirmed by the full Senate before the August recess. Read our exclusive coverage of the hearings and our biography of Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams.



Read the stories and leave your comments.








Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: Politico

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Samoa; Development; Diplomacy; USAID

PCOL45326
42


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: