The QDDR: The Gift of the State and USAID Magi

The State Department bestowed an early Christmas present on the international development community last week when it unwrapped the long-awaited Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR). And like those slipper-socks from Aunt Minnie, the QDDR isn’t exactly what was hoped for, but contained some necessities.

Quadrennial Questions

Lost in all the coverage of the State Department cable leaks is the leak of another document that could have a far greater impact on the effectiveness of future U.S. diplomacy: a set of State Department briefing slides for Congress on the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review.

Although this little reported document hints at some answers to critical questions about the long-awaited strategy for how State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will partner to support development assistance missions around the world, it also raises new questions. Perhaps most critical: why the briefing repeats tired rhetoric about the role of for-profit and non-profit development organizations assisting the government in its mission.