Aid central in Clinton’s new U.S. diplomatic plan

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department  will set up new offices to oversee international energy affairs  and scrutinize illicit financial networks as well as  dramatically scale up its USAID development arm under a new  plan developed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Clinton began rolling out her long-awaited revamp of U.S.  diplomatic strategy yesterday, meeting lawmakers to discuss  the “Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review” (QDDR) that  is expected to be formally announced later this year.

“An initial overview of our proposed recommendations was  presented to members of Congress and we’ve asked for their  feedback,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

Much anticipated by development experts, the QDDR  nevertheless faces an uncertain future in Congress, where  Republicans are eager to drive home a budget-cutting message  following their strong showing in November elections.

The plan’s centerpiece is a strengthening of the U.S.  Agency for International Development (USAID), which Clinton  hopes to revitalize as the world’s premier development agency.

The department should prioritize energy policy by setting  up a new Bureau of International Energy Affairs, and focus more  on illicit financial networks by extremist groups and rogue  states through a new Special Coordinator for Sanctions and  Illicit Finance, the review said.

The draft review says that U.S. ambassadors overseas must  be prepared to work as “CEO’s” of multi-pronged activities by a  number of U.S. agencies including USAID, while operations in  Washington must also be re-tooled to encourage cooperation.

USAID itself must also grow and adapt, and will be charged  with implementing U.S. global efforts to improve public health  and fight hunger, both initiatives which call for tens of  billions of dollars in future spending.

To do this USAID — which shrank sharply over the past 20  years — must triple mid-level hiring and find new ways to  leverage science and technology, the draft says.

The draft calls for a new Bureau for Crisis and Conflict  Operations to take the lead on crisis response and prevention,  and says the State Department and USAID must in future develop  joint strategic plans to cope with long-term challenges such as  those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While aid experts have been largely encouraged by the new  U.S. focus on development, some have voiced concern that the  two objectives may become muddled and that reporting lines may  leave State Department officials with the upper hand.

“We agree that diplomacy and development should be  coordinated and complement one another, but the two should not  be confused as the same thing,” said Todd Shelton, senior  policy director at InterAction, a U.S. alliance of  non-governmental organizations.