Dr. Rajiv Shah – the Next USAID Administrator?

Ten months into his administration, President Obama finally announced his nominee for top USAID administrator—Dr. Rajiv Shah.

This morning, I joined a packed room of dark suits on the fourth floor of Dirsksen for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s nomination hearing.

The Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network had sent out the nomination notice a few weeks ago, so I had already read Dr. Shah’s credentials—currently Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics and Chief Scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, leading the Department’s participation in the President global food security initiative and managing 10,000 staff worldwide; former Director for Agricultural Development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he managed the foundation’s $1.5 billion vaccine fund; trained doctor, former health care policy adviser for Al Gore’s presidential campaign, Masters in health economics, etc.

While excited to see an appointee with such extensive experience in both agriculture and medicine, I thought, “how exciting can this guy really be?  He’s probably some stuffy top-down bureaucrat who’s never even spent a day in the fields.”

But today’s hearing brought me hope.

Dr. Shah, a mere 36 years old, graciously fielded questions regarding his vision for USAID, changes he would implement both short- and long-term, balancing development and defense, conflict resolution, education, gender integration, food security and Afghanistan.

Lockerbie Lingers

Months after the initial furor, the outrage over the early release of the man convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 emerged again this week. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was allowed home to Libya during the summer by the Scottish government on compassionate grounds because the cancer-stricken convict had only three months to live. On November 20, that three-month period passed with Megrahi still alive, leading many of the 270 victims’ relatives, mostly Americans, to question the authenticity of the medical advice the Scots used when releasing the prisoner. Closer inspection of the decision would appear to legitimize the families’ anger.

The medical advice that the Scottish government consulted in order to make their controversial decision was provided by three doctors: two British and one Libyan. All three men were paid by the Libyan government and one of the British doctors has since commented that the three-month period was actually suggested by the Libyan government. Independent doctors had earlier calculated that Megrahi had more than a year to live, leaving him ineligible for release on compassionate grounds. To put their decision into perspective,  prisoner release on compassionate grounds has been used only seven times by the Scottish National Party since taking office in May 2007, with Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill responsible for all the decisions. Megrahi has already survived longer since his release than any of the other criminals, only one of whom was a convicted murderer.

Releasing Megrahi provoked anger on both sides of the Atlantic, with President Obama calling the move a “mistake”. While many Scots echoed the president’s sentiments, some saw irony in the U.S.’s pontification over prisoner treatment. MacAskill has long claimed that he was motivated purely by medical advice, yet commentators speculate that the move formed part of a trade deal between Libya and the UK. The reality is probably less complex and conspiratorial.