Speaking of better foreign assistance, thoughtful commentator Steve Radelet of the Center for Global Development has written a thorough plan for "Modernizing Foreign Assistance for the 21st Century: An Agenda for the Next U.S. President."

In this new essay, adapted from a forthcoming CGD book The White House and the World: A Global Development Agenda for the Next U.S. President, CGD senior fellow Steve Radelet analyses the recent increases in funding and new organizational changes such as the MCC, PEPFAR, the growing role of the Department of Defense, and the F process. He then proposes a five-point strategy for modernizing U.S. foreign assistance: develop a National Foreign Assistance Strategy; create a new cabinet-level department for development policy; rewrite the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act; place a higher priority on multilateral assistance channels; and increase the quantity and improve the allocation of funding.

I have not read through all of Radelet's recommendations, but it will be interesting to compare this advice with that of the HELP Commission report, which also offers a comprehensive update to the structure, mechanisms and delivery of foreign aid to the next administration.