U.S. Global Leadership Coalition: The Case for Keeping USAID and the State Department Separate
Abhik Pramanik, policy analyst at USGLC, discusses the differences between and roles of the State Department and USAID and makes a case for keeping USAID independent from the State Department. Pramanik writes, “If USAID were to be integrated into the State Department, the agency would likely lose its ability to effectively and accountably implement and evaluate its development programs. … Maintaining a strong, independent USAID is critical to U.S. national security, as its work seeks to prevent crises … If USAID were to be integrated into State, this restructuring would not only ignore the great strides USAID has made to become more efficient and accountable over the past decade, but would also make our development assistance less effective in the long run” (4/10).