Shadow Politics, February 9, 2025
Shadow Politics with Senator Michael D. Brown and Co-host Liberty Jones
You're Fired! - With guest Former USAID Administrator J. Brian Atwood
The Trump administration is putting all staff at the United States Agency for International Development on administrative leave as of 11:59 pm on Friday, February 7th. View the official message on the website of the USAID — the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty and engaging in democratic reforms. What does this mean for the government agency's mission? Former USAID Administrator J. Brian Atwood will give us his take on this recent development and what this means for the agency's 10,000 employees across the globe.
J. Brian Atwood is a Senior Fellow for International Studies and Public Affairs at Brown University’s Thomas Watson Institute for International Studies.
Atwood was Dean of the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs (2003-2010). He served for six and half years as Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) during the Clinton administration. He was elected Chair of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development in 2010. He served on the United Nations Secretary-General’s Panel on Peace Operations in 2000.
Atwood received the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award in 1999. Prior to his appointment to head of USAID, Atwood led the Clinton transition team at the State Department and served as Under Secretary of State for Management (1992-1993). He was President of the National Democratic Institute (1985-1993), and Dean of Professional Studies at the Foreign Service Institute (1981–1982).
During the Carter administration, Atwood served as Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations. He served as United States Senator Tom Eagleton’s legislative advisor for foreign policy (1972-1977). Atwood joined the Foreign Service in 1966.
Headlined Show, Shadow Politics February 9, 2025
An Uncertain Future - what does this mean for America and the world? Our guest is Former USAID Administrator J. BRIAN ATWOOD. The Trump administration is putting all staff at the United States Agency for International Development on administrative leave as of 11:59 pm on Friday, February 7th. View the official message on the website of the USAID — the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty and engaging in democratic reforms. What does this mean for the government agency's mission? Former USAID Administrator J. Brian Atwood will give us his take on this recent development and what this means for the agency's 10,000 employees across the globe.
Guest, J Brian Atwood
J. Brian Atwood is a Senior Fellow and a member of the Board of Governors of the Watson Institute at Brown University. He was Dean of the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs from 2003 to 2010. Atwood served for six and one-half years as Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) during the Clinton Administration. In 1992/93 he led the Clinton transition team at the State Department and served as Under Secretary of State for Management prior to his appointment to head of USAID. He was elected Chair of the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD in 2010. During the Carter Administration Atwood served as Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations. He was President of the National Democratic Institute from 1985 to 1993, and served on the UN Secretary General’s Panel on Peace Operations in 2000. He joined the Foreign Service in 1966, and was Senator Tom Eagleton’s legislative advisor for foreign policy from 1972 to 1977. He was Dean of Professional Studies at the Foreign Service Institute in 1981–82. Atwood received the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award in 1999.
Research
International development cooperation; poverty and its relationship to conflict; war powers in the US, the politics of US foreign policy; the global context for development cooperation; inequity and its impact on the less developed countries.
Publications
Washington Post re President's authority to hold aid to Ukraine, Development Cooperation: Threatened but Durable (Georgetown Inernational Relations Journal)
Teaching
Diplomacy: An Art That Isn't Dead (IAPA 1801B)
Diplomacy and Development: Related But Different Missions (IAPA 1801V)
Shadow Politics
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