Over on Open the Echo Chamber, I look at who might succeed Raj Shah at USAID and what is at stake. What I would like to see:
At least from an incrementalist perspective, entrenching and building on…USAID Forward would be a major accomplishment for Shah’s successor. Whoever comes next will not simply run out the clock of the Obama Administration – there are two years left. I therefore expect the administration to appoint an administrator (rather than promote a career USAID staff caretaker with no political mandate) to the position. In a perfect world, this would be a person who understands development as a discipline, but also has the government and implementing experience to understand how development thought intersects with development practice in the real world.
The big problem? I’m not sure how many of these people exist, and if they are being considered…
Read more at Who’s next?