The Millennium Challenge Account: Transforming US Foreign Assistance Policy

‘Millennium Challenge Account ’ (MCA) that would provide substantial new bilateral US foreign assistance to a select group of low-income countries that are ‘ruling justly, investing in their people, and encouraging economic freedom’. In principle, the MCA could bring about the most fundamental changes to US aid policies since the Kennedy administration. The MCA’s significance lies partly in its scale, since the $5 billion target annual budget proposed by Bush would represent a nearly 50 percent increase over current US aid. Even if the $5 billion target is never fully reached — and it seems unlikely that it will, given current US budget realities — the MCA will lead to a significant increase in US aid in the near future. Perhaps even more importantly, however, the new program brings with it the opportunity to improve significantly how the US delivers its foreign aid. Traditional foreign aid programs around the world have been criticised for a variety of reasons, including the following: • Aid programs try to achieve conflicting goals, encompassing everything fro