Global: USAID reform - diplomacy, defence, democracy, development?

Although NGOs have long called for reforms of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the changes introduced by the Bush administration will probably harm the world's poorest. The agency's new leader, Randall Tobias, now reports directly to the Secretary of State, making US aid policies even more vulnerable to "short-term political or military objectives." Among rich countries, US aid ranks second lowest as a proportion of economic output. Furthermore, 77% of this assistance goes to US suppliers and services instead of poor countries' development initiatives.