The Conservative Case for Development: A Conversation with Andrew Mitchell

Please join us to discuss the conservative case for development. We will be joined by Andrew Mitchell, the former Secretary of State for the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID). Andrew Mitchell is one of the most gifted political leaders in international development in the last 20 years. Andrew served as Shadow Secretary of State for International Development for five years, and Secretary of State for International Development for two years. During Andrew’s time as head of DfID, the U.K. became the first Group of Eight country to commit to spending 0.7 percent of gross national income on aid. Andrew has a strategic understanding of the uses and limitations of soft power for international development. This conversation is extremely timely during the current political climate which threatens U.S. and U.K. foreign assistance commitments. Please take a look at my recent article for Forbes, Absolutely Reorganize, But Don't Break Foreign Assistance, which discusses how we should reorganize soft power agencies like USAID instead of breaking the foreign assistance system completely.