Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Although Congress plays an essential role in determining and advancing U.S. interests around the world, relatively few of its members are well versed in the many complex foreign policy issues their decisions influence. They usually rely heavily on staff to help inform these decisions?staff who also often lack nuanced understanding of foreign policy. The Wilson Center’s Congressional Foreign Policy School would be the only program designed to give these staff members an intensive educational and leadership experience. It would also be among the few congressional programs in Washington specifically focused on the developing world, exploring issues such as development, democracy, security, and sustainability. This grant would enable the School to pilot a series of two six- to eight-week sessions for twenty to twenty-five staff, culminating in an annual study trip to give them a firsthand view of important issues facing the developing world.

Global poverty and inequity are key challenges facing the United States in the twenty-first century, and although Congress has a major role in determining U.S. policies on international trade and global development, few members understand the issues or the stakes involved, and even fewer members make these issues a priority. The "Wilson Center on the Hill" program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is designed specifically to expand the small core group of members of the U.S. Congress and senior congressional staff that know and care about international development and trade and to increase the knowledge and understanding of these issues across the Congress. It hosts a series of approximately twenty programs each year that provides the members and staff with opportunities to hear and discuss issues with leading experts, U.S. and foreign government officials, representatives of civil society, and academics. In the coming year, issue areas will include foreign policy challenges, the Administration’s review of U.S. development policy, food security, and energy security. The program also organizes structured study trips that allow the participants to gain firsthand understanding of these issues. A trip to Africa is being planned during the spring recess in 2011.

The purpose of this grant is to help the Hewlett Foundation, ClimateWorks and the China Sustainable Energy Foundation better understand opportunities aimed at slowing and ultimately reducing China's dependence on coal. China consumes half the world's coal, and its use has increased about 180% over the past decade. To date, most of our support for clean energy policies have focused on renewable energy and efficiency gains, so this would be moving us into a new area of policy work. The Wilson International Center has a long history of working on environmental issues in China, and have recently developed a strong expertise on the nexus between energy and water use. The Center will also work closely with the World Resources Institute staff that will also be working on this matter.