Friend –

This year’s USGLC Global Impact Forum was one of the most consequential – especially as policymakers are grappling with major decisions that will impact everyday kitchen table issues.

• My personal highlights were interviewing National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan – which featured on the Today Show – along with my conversation with the relatively new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C.Q. Brown, Jr.
  
  
• And not to be missed – smart leaders from both parties including the conversation with America First Policy Institute’s Chad Wolf, who joined the USGLC stage in the afternoon.
  
  
• In addition to convening hundreds of local leaders from across the country for nearly 200 meetings on Capitol Hill, more than 250,000 viewers tuned in online.

Check out the bite-size highlights of some of the incredible speakers below.

• 🎬 Watch the 60-second reels or the full 25-minute conversations on the topic of your interest. And if you can’t choose – here is our quick 3-minute recap video.

Much more to share soon – including from the G7 to the first Presidential debate on June 27th.

Best,
Liz
Liz Schrayer, USGLC

Highlights from the 2024 Global Impact Forum

THE ESCALATING GLOBAL CHALLENGES

In a fascinating and forward-looking fireside chat, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan tackles the global challenges facing the United States and how the U.S. is responding. While not speaking for the Biden campaign, he shares what one might expect in a second Biden Administration on global development issues.

🎬 Watch the 60-second highlights and full conversation here

• On global adversaries and authoritarianism: “We are seeing authoritarian states, Russia among them, look to systematically interfere and undermine democratic processes in the rest of the world… We do have to work closely with allies and partners to have a resilient push back against that.”
  
  
• On China and U.S. investments in diplomacy and global development: “Those investments today will pay off a hundredfold tomorrow in conflicts avoided and people empowered… And frankly, you can't talk about with a straight face geopolitical competition with China, and then not support these kinds of investments.”
  
  
• On economic assistance for Ukraine: “The idea that somehow we can support the military effort, but not support Ukraine’s economy belies everything we know about sustaining an effective military campaign.”
  
  
• On a second Biden Administration: “One thing, I would like to see… is a major initiative with the Congress aimed at truly delivering on the promise of unlocking resources for the developing world… actually resourcing the MDB reform effort… the debt relief dimension… [and] what we call corridors.”

A NATIONAL SECURITY APPROACH FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

In a rare – and at times personal – interview with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C.Q. Brown, Jr. discusses the global security environment and his perspective on America’s role in the world.

🎬 Watch the 60-second highlights and full conversation here

• On America’s role in the world: “The role that we have as United States… our leadership is valued. It's watched. I’ve spent a lot of time in our embassies around the world… I know we cannot do all we do as a military by ourselves, and the value of our partnerships with the interagency, the value with our allies and partners, is so important.”
  
  
• On Russia’s war in Ukraine: “What happens in one part of the world does not stay in one part of the world… We found that when Ukraine has been resourced, they’ve been effective against a larger, supposedly more capable, military… My hat's off to Ukrainian people and their will to defend themselves. And we got to stay and stick with them.”
  
  
• On his path to Chairman and his message for young people: “I was gonna do… my four years... I got to ride in a T-37, one of our training aircraft, at an ROTC summer camp, and I said… ‘I want to do that!’ So, I… decided to become a pilot. And... 39 years later… now sitting here, as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff… this service for young people, opens doors and shows you other aspects of the world.”

ECONOMIC SECURITY IS NATIONAL SECURITY

Helping to kick off USGLC’s new Global Economic Hub, South Dakota Trade’s Luke Lindberg moderates a critical discussion on how “Economic Security is National Security.

🎬 Watch the 60-second highlights and full conversation here

• White House’s Amos Hochstein on economic security: “On the issue of understanding economic policy, and national security, and how they're intertwined, I would actually argue that the mistake that we make is that we say, 'Are they connected?' They're not connected, they're one… When we try to separate is when we start getting into trouble.”
  
  
• Lt. General Doug Lute on America’s alliances: “There’s no better example of the intertwining of national security and economic security than... our relationship with Europe… A $7 trillion economic relationship is secured by NATO, arguably the most durable, strongest, most important security arrangement that we have.”
  
  
• Citi’s Candi Wolff on how America is stepping up: “But I think what's really important is ten years ago, we weren't even really having a conversation that economic security and national security were intertwined… We're stepping up in different ways and … beginning to show the power of economic strength to handle national security.” 

AN AMERICA FIRST FOREIGN POLICY

Following the release of the America First Policy Institute’s new book on national security, Executive Director and Chief Strategy Officer Chad Wolf joined the USGLC stage to discuss the meaning of “America First”, the global competition with China, and America’s role in the world. While not speaking for the Trump campaign, he shares his thoughts on what one might expect in a second Trump Administration on foreign policy and global development issues.

🎬 Watch the 60-second highlights and full conversation here

• On “America First”: “America First is not America alone, and certainly not isolationism. I hear that often. That's often a criticism of not only AFPI, but this America First movement, people say, ‘Well, you just you just want to put your head in the sand and go away.’ And that's simply not the case.”
  
  
• On global development: “I have seen where development dollars and development resources have been used effectively to advance American interests. I think you’ve got to be clear with the American people about that.”
  
  
• On America’s response to China in the developing world: “When they're giving out money… what it does to developing nations… The U.S. has to be there. We've got to be present for those debates. And it's difficult. And it can't be solved… with our military all the time. It's solved with that soft diplomacy, development dollars, engagement… But you got to be there on the ground doing it day in and day out.”

GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY: THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

With close to 300 million people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance around the world, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and other top leaders joined the USGLC stage – moderated by Secretary Dan Glickman – to tackle the growing threats to global food security and celebrate 70 years of President Eisenhower’s Food for Peace legacy.

🎬 Watch the 60-second highlights and full conversation here

• Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on America’s role in the world: “When the U.S. is on the field, the world’s a safer and better place. When the U.S. makes the decision to take itself off the field… that vacuum… creates chaotic circumstances.”
  
  
• Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) on global hunger: “The tradeoff is between a stable world — a fed world, if you will… and if [people are] not fed, it will cost us much more money.”
  
  
• Former World Food Program chief David Beasley on the global stakes: “In the short term, we’ve got to end wars and conflict, so we don’t have mass migration and destabilization and hunger… If you’re not going to do it [support global food programs] out of the goodness of your heart, you better do it based on your financial interests and your national security interests.”
  
  
• Deere and Company’s Cory Reed: “Global agriculture has produced more than 50% more food in the last two decades alone than it did just 20 years ago.”
  

THE U.S.-AFRICA STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

With China and Russia both dramatically increasing their presence on the continent of Africa – not only militarily but economically – and on the heels of Kenyan President William Ruto’s visit to Washington, where does America’s engagement with Africa stand?

🎬 Watch the 60-second highlights and full conversation here

• U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety on U.S. commercial interests: “There are some 600 American companies operating here in South Africa, employing about 225,000 people and generating revenue roughly the equivalent to 10% of South Africa's GDP.”
  
  
• Former Trump Administration U.S. Special Envoy for the Sahel, Peter Pham, on opportunity in Africa: “Ultimately, what is sustainable is what we have always known. It's good governance, its development, its prosperity, it's a horizon of hope for citizens of those countries, and for those in the international community.”

THE 3-MINUTE RECAP!

Catch the quick highlights reel from USGLC's 2024 Global Impact Forum.

🎬 Watch here