In January 2004, the Bush administration established the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an innovative new mechanism for disbursing foreign aid. With billions in new funding and strong bipartisan support, the MCC promised to reward developing nations that practice good governance and respect economic freedom by providing them greater assistance.

Despite its limitations, the Millennium Challenge Corporation has served a useful role in American foreign aid policy.

Foreign aid programs of the past decades have attempted to reduce poverty while introducing necessary reforms in recipient countries through “conditionality”--the practice of requiring economic or political policy changes in exchange for aid. It is now generally agreed that these programs have failed. Recipient governments have pretended to reform, and...

As the new Congress considers the future of foreign assistance, Daniel Yohannes, CEO of MCC, and panelists from across the political spectrum will gather to discuss whether a bipartisan consensus is emerging on aid effectiveness and assess MCC's experience in putting these best principles into practice.

Government and international aid agencies from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have come to depend on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to implement their development policy programs. Corporations are increasingly expected to consult with NGOs prior to making investments in the developing...

President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to double U.S. foreign aid, and Representative Howard Berman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, has stated that foreign aid reform will be on the agenda of the 111th Congress. Yet the field of development has changed significantly over the past decade,...

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What does it mean to prosper? Is prosperity just the accumulation of material wealth, or are there other determinants to overall well-being? Why is there a great divide in life satisfaction between Denmark and Hong Kong despite their...

President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to double U.S. foreign aid, and Representative Howard Berman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, has stated that foreign aid reform will be on the agenda of the 111th Congress. Yet the field of development has changed significantly over the past decade,...