Development Diplomacy: Modernizing U.S. Diplomacy To Better Support Development

“We need to continue shifting our approach and our thinking from aid to investment, investments targeted to produce tangible returns…but we also have to expect more from developing countries. The political will must be mobilized to take on the biggest obstacles to a country’s own development.”

– Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

The last two decades have transformed our understanding of what it takes to achieve development. The surest path to creating more prosperous societies requires indigenous political will; responsive, effective, accountable, and transparent governance; and broad-based, inclusive economic growth.

Without this enabling environment, sustained development progress often remains out of reach. But development, which along with diplomacy and defense is essential to America’s national security, requires an updated engagement model. Traditional development approaches need to be broadened to produce a strategy of influence, engagement, and reform mobilization.

The Secretary’s Vision

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is placing development at the center of U.S. diplomacy. We are working to realize this vision through three broad areas.