In the last eight years, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has doubled its budget. While development has been quietly elevated to stand alongside defense and diplomacy as instruments of American power, USAID itself is adrift, argue three former USAID directors, writing in Foreign Affairs. J. Brian Atwood, M. Peter McPherson, and Andrew Natsios…
How could Global Integrity not blog on this one? Governor Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois was arrested on charges of corruption and bribery after an ongoing investigation uncovered examples of the governor selling political favors in exchange for campaign contributions to his fundraising organization, Friends of Blagojevich. Much of the media attention has focused on…
Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Richard Branson and other very famous people gathered Saturday to celebrate 30 media projects in defense of human rights, including, I’m proud to say, the work of Global Integrity. The photo above is as close as I got to the former UN Secretary General — it’s photographically flawed, but the overall…
French documentary filmmaker Patrice Barrat tells stories of global crisis, one life at a time. While in Paris, I heard him speak of his new documentary project, Madmundo.tv. It’s a common struggle for journalists reporting on human rights, oppression or corruption; it is difficult to tell stories of global complexity without losing the humanity of…
Citigroup has successfully plead the case for a US$20 billion bailout (and US$306 billion in loan guarantees) from the US Treasury. However, if the situation at Citi is that dire (and evidence suggests it is), they are mandated to disclose that damage to their investors mid-quarter. They haven’t, and the government doesn’t seem to mind.…
Over dinner on the roof of the Al Quasr Metropole Hotel in Amman, an Egyptian woman is telling me about an upcoming year as a guest scholar at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. She is concerned, in passing, with her academic objectives. Once I assure her that Notre Dame is a highly regarded…