Introduction: Confronting Unprecedented Humanitarian Needs

Many of my most vivid memories from my time with the US Agency for International Development come from the agency’s humanitarian work around the world.

I was in New York City for the 2017 United Nations General Assembly not long after a devastating earthquake struck Mexico City. While walking to a meeting, I received a call from the White House to say that President Trump had offered President Peña Nieto “anything he needed” for his country’s relief efforts. The White House made it clear that it was my job to make that happen. After a couple of phone calls back to the agency, we mobilized a special search and rescue 

 from Los Angeles that would reach the site before breakfast the following morning. Mexico was grateful, the White House was happy, and I was relieved.

I remember our responses to a range of humanmade disasters that occurred during my tenure like it was yesterday. There was my trip to 

 with the US Central Command when I was shown a burned-out soccer stadium in Raqqa and the remains of torture chambers that had been hidden under the stands. I was shown the makeshift centers where USAID and its partners were providing emergency food, water, and medicine to desperate Syrian families, and met with civil society groups working to establish the threads of community governance.

My time with USAID taught me so much about humanitarian needs. I learned that the men and women who spring into action when disaster strikes are talented, dedicated professionals, who are ready at a moment’s notice to mobilize and help families and communities get through their darkest times and deepest suffering. 

In my time with USAID, I took multiple trips to Cúcuta, the Colombian city on the country’s border with Venezuela. Working with the World Food Program, UNICEF, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and others, the US supported Venezuelan families fleeing Nicolás Maduro’s tyranny and his disastrous economic mismanagement. When I first met with families on the Colombian side of the Simon Bolivar bridge, they told me they had walked “three or four days” from their homes to reach Cúcuta. On my second visit, I heard “three or four weeks.” On my next visits, I heard of journeys that were even longer and more treacherous. Most were tired and weak—American generosity would be lifesaving to them. 

There was also my trip to camps of internally displaced persons in 

 where Rohingya families were essentially held prisoner by government soldiers in fenced encampments. Working with UNICEF and other organizations, we provided food and medicine. There was a palpable sense of despair hanging over these camps because the Rohingya wanted so much more—education, employment, and a chance at a better life—things the ruling regime did everything in its power to keep from them.

And I remember my very first overseas trip as administrator to the Horn of Africa, where I watched a food distribution in the Somali region of Ethiopia led by the World Food Program. That part of the country had been wracked by several consecutive years of drought, and it was teetering on the edge of famine. As I walked through the crowds gathered for the sacks of food and grain, an Ethiopian woman took me aside and asked a simple, but profound question. After she thanked me for the food we provided, she said what she really wanted to know was whether we could help her village with irrigation so she would never need food from us again.

My time with USAID taught me so much about humanitarian needs. I learned that the men and women who spring into action when disaster strikes are talented, dedicated professionals, who are ready at a moment’s notice to mobilize and help families and communities get through their darkest times and deepest suffering. I learned that the US is by far the world’s largest humanitarian donor—and while I’m proud of our generosity and leadership, I am more than a little irritated that other nations are not doing more to meet the historic levels of need around the world. And I was reminded that humanitarian assistance is treatment, not cure. Everywhere I traveled, people were endlessly grateful for what we provided in their time of need. But at every turn, they also made clear that they really wanted self-reliance. By helping to boost their resilience and create economic opportunity, we could not only get them through those dark moments but we could strengthen the chances of them never needing humanitarian assistance again.

The record levels of human displacement that we see in so many parts of the world can seem overwhelming. The protracted conflicts and crises driving so much of the humanitarian need can seem insurmountable. However, the stories in this issue of the 

 serve to remind us that we have the capacity to help people through their moments of crisis.

The world's humanitarian community is at a crossroads moment. It’s painfully obvious that there are humanitarian fires burning in many parts of the world, from Gaza to Moldova, from Haiti to Sudan, to the Democratic Republic of Congo and more. The current situation is unsustainable unless other countries step up their contributions and work together to address the underlying conditions driving humanitarian need.

Technology is helping to deliver assistance more efficiently and effectively than ever before, and only a relatively small number of protracted crises have caused so much of the world’s humanitarian need. But more countries need to give more financial assistance if we’re going to begin to satisfy the level of need out there. Those protracted crises aren’t just distant dilemmas—they are, and need to be seen as, everybody’s business.

 titled “Confronting Unprecedented Humanitarian Needs,” shows that the current needs and responses are not only as intense as they’ve ever been, but will escalate unless something changes. The issue brings together dedicated professionals who have been working as humanitarian responders for decades, and who share vital insights and lessons that can help us address this new reality.

Looking closely at the data, we get a sense of how things have changed over the last decade. Leaders from USAID, the United Nations, the International Organization for Migration, and the International Committee for the Red Cross share their analysis on how we got to this moment and what is required to make progress. NGO responders on the frontlines share challenges and triumphs while working to address mental health, maternal and newborn health, nutrition, gender-based violence, climate impacts, and more—all as they navigate conflicts, natural disasters, and disease outbreaks. We hear from entrepreneurs harnessing technology to overcome the toughest of obstacles and from faith-based organizations who are living their deeply held values each day to help those in need. 

 serve to remind us that we have the capacity to help people through their moments of crisis. Equipped with emerging technologies, informed by the lessons we learn in each humanitarian response, powered by our sense of moral duty, we can lift lives and strengthen communities no matter what comes our way.

Ambassador Mark A. Green is president and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He previously served as the administrator of USAID from 2017 to 2020.

Cover photo: While in Cúcuta, Columbia, then USAID Administrator Mark A. Green takes a tour of the warehouse holding supplies. Photo from Ambassador Mark A. Green, used with permission.

In his introduction for the fall issue, Ambassador Mark A. Green shares insights from his time at USAID, stressing the urgent need for innovation and collaboration to address escalating humanitarian crises. He also tells us why we should be hopeful despite the growing needs.

As a rapidly changing world creates new humanitarian needs, innovative approaches and new collaborations can help us rise to the moment.  

When I served as USAID administrator, I had the opportunity to meet a lot of committed and creative people who were working to advance the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Few impressed me as much as Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, a co-founder of 

, now the world’s largest autonomous delivery company. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard they had launched a fleet of self-flying drones and were delivering blood and medicine across the mountainous Rwandan terrain. Having traversed some of Rwanda’s mountains, it seemed a difficult task to get perishable and vital medical supplies to people in remote rural areas, let alone in time to save lives in an emergency.

I was lucky enough to see their Rwanda operation at work in 2019 when Rinaudo Cliffton’s team offered me a demonstration. I’ve followed Zipline’s progress over the years and watched as they expanded operations in Africa, partnering with governments in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria. When we decided to focus a 

 issue on humanitarian assistance, I reached out to Rinaudo Cliffton to find out what they’ve been up to over the last five years and what lies ahead. I remain impressed—and even more convinced that innovators like him will help to transform the global humanitarian assistance system to reach its full potential and save more lives.

Ambassador Mark A. Green: Let’s start with how and where Zipline got started.

 We started building the first version of the system in 2013. Our backgrounds were in robotics, artificial intelligence, and automation. It seemed like it should be possible to build a new logistics system—one that would be 10 times faster, half the cost, and zero emissions. But most importantly, we wanted to build a logistics system that serves all people equally. About 1 billion people have somewhat good access to logistics, which means 7 billion have subpar or no access to daily delivery and logistics and as a result, about 5.5 million kids lose their lives every year. I don’t think we appreciate the implications of not having reliable, working logistic systems. We felt there was this huge opportunity to build something much better. The Rwandan Minister of Health at the time took this big bet on us.

The University of Pennsylvania just published a study showing that we've been able to reduce maternal mortality at the hospitals we serve in Rwanda by 51%. We ran the exact same study in Ghana and we're seeing a 56% reduction in maternal mortality at those hospitals. It turns out logistics are way more important than anyone really appreciates. -Keller Rinaudo Cliffton

We launched with the Rwandan government in 2016 with the goal of delivering blood to 21 different hospitals. For the first nine months it was a real uphill battle and we served just one hospital, but after a year, we were successfully serving 21 hospitals; then we expanded to 50, then 100. We started with only delivering blood then expanded to include more medical products in the health system, and today we are delivering to more than 4,500 hospitals and health facilities. Globally, we've delivered more than 19 million doses of vaccine, including 2.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine. We deliver roughly 75% of the national 

 of Rwanda outside of the capital city. This is done fully autonomously in a way that is 10 times as fast, half the cost, and with zero emissions.

There are now big research institutions doing major studies on Zipline. The University of Pennsylvania just published a 

 showing that we've been able to reduce maternal mortality at the hospitals we serve in Rwanda by 51%. We ran the exact same 

 in Ghana and we're seeing a 56% reduction in maternal mortality at those hospitals. It turns out logistics are way more important than anyone really appreciates.

Ambassador Mark A. Green: To be technical for a moment: you're not just a drone company, but rather a logistics business. Could you explain the difference, and do you only use drones—or are you agnostic about the technology?

We learned in Rwanda that the aircraft itself is around 15% of the complexity of the solution. There is a huge amount of software, ground systems, infrastructure, and new human systems that have to exist to make this work. We had to build distribution centers, pre-flight checks, communications architecture, and multi vehicle deconfliction. We had to integrate with the national civil aviation authorities and build our own unmanned traffic management system and provide that to them. We had to build software to integrate with the national health system. And then we had to build warehouses, learn how to store inventory, and how to manage that inventory. Many products have special storage and handling requirements, like platelets, that have to be constantly agitated.

The challenge of all of this is figuring out how to build a logistics system that is more similar to ordering food off an app in the US. We can just push a button on a phone and have something brought to us in less than an hour. Why don't global logistics systems work more like that? -Keller Rinaudo Cliffton

We also realized none of our customers want to buy drones—that is not what a minister of health wants to do. They want teleportation. They want something to go from point A to point B fast enough to save someone's life, something cheap and reliable that works no matter the time of day, the weather or geography. Zipline pretty quickly realized that we had to take all of this technical complexity and make the service as simple and magical as using FedEx or UPS, while being way faster, less expensive, and able to serve anywhere independent of roads.

Ambassador Mark A. Green: Why did you choose Rwanda as your jump-off point?

 We wanted to launch with a national healthcare system because it could show what a drone delivery service looked like on a large scale. We had a sense that this could save a lot of lives, and the Rwandan Minister of Health understood that too. As we were just getting started she told me the best advice we ever got, she said, “Just do blood to one hospital.” That was an incredibly important use case for maternal and child health and really focused us. Half of all blood transfusions in Rwanda go toward moms who experience postpartum hemorrhaging, and 30% are going to kids under the age of five.

Ambassador Mark A. Green: One of the things that I discovered in my humanitarian assistance work is the importance of temperature and climate control elements. You can get blood anywhere you want to get it, but if you don't have climate control storage, it’s not going to work, especially when you’re dealing with a country that is mountainous and not far from the equator.

 These are the nuances that make logistics super hard. A lot of the products that we're trying to deliver to the last mile are cold chain dependent. Vaccines, for example, or packed red blood cells, have to be refrigerated. Some COVID vaccines have to be kept in liquid nitrogen cold storage. The challenge is to get products to where people live, which means you're often delivering to a primary care facility that may not have a refrigerator and almost certainly does not have reliable electricity for refrigeration. We’re often trying to figure out if we want to stock products and if so, how many doses. We need to know the chances that half of the supply is going to expire if the facility loses power for hours, which happens all the time. It leads to huge waste in the last mile where you're having to throw things out when they're spoiling, but are also facing large stock outs. For example, there are high percentages of kids showing up at primary care facilities who are not receiving the vaccine they were supposed to get that day because they’re out of stock. We fix that.

The challenge of all of this is figuring out how to build a logistics system that is more similar to ordering food off an app in the US. We can just push a button on a phone and have something brought to us in less than an hour. Why don't global logistics systems work more like that? This was the naive and powerful idea behind everything that we were building for those first eight years; and now that's now happening on a massive scale across more than 4,500 hospitals and health facilities in 8 countries.

Ambassador Mark A. Green: That’s extraordinary. I’d like to hear more about the next generation of drones that you're constructing and what is next for Zipline.

 We spent our first six years operating only in Africa and we’re continuing to grow in Africa. We just announced a national memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Health of Nigeria to build 12 more distribution centers, adding to what we've already built in Nigeria. From there we'll be able to serve more than 60% of the rural population in the entire country. We expect it to save 900,000 lives over 5 years and dramatically reduce costs for the government.

A lot of big companies in the US started taking note of what Zipline was doing and we now have signed contracts with Walmart, Intermountain Health, the Cleveland Clinic, Michigan Medicine, OhioHealth, Memorial Hermann, and many of the largest and most innovative healthcare systems in the world. In the US, there has been an exponential growth in telemedicine in the last few years. It saves money and is critical for rural areas, but it relies on new kinds of logistics that can get medications and prescriptions right to someone’s home.

Our first platform is optimized for those long-range deliveries to rural areas, but we knew we also needed a platform optimized for home delivery to the billions of people living in dense cities and urban areas. We’re launching that new platform later this year and are then going to start rolling it out metro by metro.

Ambassador Mark A. Green: Technology is one thing, but you need people on the other end. Tell me a little bit about your human capacity building in the countries and markets where you guys are working.

 Hiring and building teams is the most important thing that Zipline does. Zipline’s staff of 1,200 is about half African and half American. We hire entirely local teams of fulfillment operators, flight engineers, flight operators, robotic maintenance professionals. We’re creating high-paying, advanced economy jobs in these countries. We're training young engineers and operations professionals to lead distribution centers and build the business. We’ve been able to hire extraordinary entrepreneurial and technical talent, and level them up into positions of global executive leadership.

Ambassador Mark A. Green: I’ve read that you’ve even partnered with Elton John and the Elton John Foundation. How did that partnership come about, and what does it involve?

 has been a big believer in Zipline. The problem with the battle against HIV is that a lot of it is occurring in very young populations which are often ignored. Teenagers and young adults are often not accessing traditional healthcare systems, so we focused on delivering prophylaxis to where those populations are. We'll deliver to community events, to nightclubs, and directly to homes.

We didn’t design the company to respond to a crisis. What we're doing is building national infrastructure that can operate continuously in a way that all hospitals and primary care facilities, once people are trained, can be relied on. -Keller Rinaudo Cliffton

A lot of the refill rates in the communities we're serving are shockingly low—between 20 and 30% for HIV medications. We wanted to increase the refill rates for our patients because it’s important for people to stay on their medication so they don’t develop resistance. Over the course of a year of working with them, we now have data showing that we've been able to increase refill rates above 80%.

Ambassador Mark A. Green: I’m also curious about Zipline’s work in conflict zones—that's got to be a logistical nightmare.

 We didn’t design the company to respond to a crisis. What we're doing is building national infrastructure that can operate continuously in a way that all hospitals and primary care facilities, once people are trained, can be relied on. But once a country has this infrastructure, it becomes vastly more resilient to emergencies, weather events, and even to security challenges. For example, in Ghana, we have a distribution center far to the north in the Tamale region where there is consistently bad flooding. About 70% of the facilities we serve there are unreachable by any other means for three months out of the year. When that happens, Zipline becomes the sole distributor to those facilities. With Zipline, suddenly hundreds of those health facilities are now reachable in a way that is safe and is not endangering any human lives.

Ambassador Mark A. Green: We are living in a time of unpredictability. There is climate volatility, we have 120 million displaced people in the world, and many things are constantly in motion. We can either play catch up, or we can build resilience so that countries are able to turn on a dime and help address some of these challenges as they pop up. You can’t get there if you haven’t invested first in the system.

Ambassador Mark A. Green: What holds you back?

 Eight years ago, when we were launching in Rwanda, I would have said that working directly with these different governments was going to be really hard. You don’t know what their incentives are or if are they may not favor innovation. I thought we’d be in good shape because there is so much money from a global public healthcare perspective flowing into these markets, and all of these global public healthcare institutions say they want innovation, and transformation. I couldn't have been more wrong: It’s the countries that have been the innovators. They have signed direct service contracts with Zipline and we have built amazing partnerships with these different countries. On the other hand, only a few donors have been able to put their money where their mouth is. Thankfully those focused on true impact and maximal ROI, like Gavi, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Pfizer, and UPS Foundation, are committed to supporting governments to scale this, and hopefully other global public health institutions can learn from their model.

Ambassador Mark A. Green is the president and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He previously served as USAID administrator and US Ambassador to Tanzania. Keller Rinaudo Cliffton is the co-founder of Zipline.

Cover photo: Drone launch over Ghana. Photo by Zipline, used with permission.

Innovations in tech are bringing life-saving medicines and supplies to some of the hardest to reach areas. Ambassador Mark A. Green talks with Zipline Co-Founder and CEO Keller Rinaudo Cliffton about the company’s use of drones to deliver blood across the mountainous terrain of Rwanda and other African countries.

Self-flying drones deliver critical medicine and supplies to some of Africa’s hardest to reach areas. Can use of this technology expand and change the course of humanitarian assistance worldwide?

Saving Lives, One Drone at a Time

In this multimedia feature, Ambassador Mark A. Green (ret.), president and CEO of the Wilson Center, speaks with Pren-Tsilya Boa-Guehe, Google’s head for pan-African institutions, government affairs, and public policy. They discuss how technological advancements are booming across Africa, guiding the continent toward economic opportunities, and creating a path for fruitful US and global collaboration with African innovators.

Mark Green, president and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Hello from the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. I'm Mark Green, the center's president and CEO. It's a great pleasure to welcome you to this multimedia feature that’s part of the 

. With a focus on six key themes, it examines Africa's increasing consequence on the global stage. To provide a close look at the rapidly changing technological landscape on the continent, I'm speaking with Google's lead for Pan-African Institutions, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Pren-Tsilya Boa-Guehe, where she oversees policy engagement with the African Union Commission, UN Economic Commission for Africa, the African Development Bank—among many other regional organizations. Pren-Tsilya, thank you for joining us today and for being part of this important conversation.

Pren-Tsilya Boa-Guehe, Google’s Head for Pan-African Institutions, Government Affairs, and Public Policy

Thank you so much. It's really a pleasure to be here with you and to be able to have this conversation.

Pren-Tsilya, you've worked on humanitarian affairs. You've been a foreign service officer and bilateral missions and international organizations in Africa. Now you have this amazing position with Google. What are the opportunities? What attracted you to this work?

I think to start, it's important to share why government affairs and public policy exist, right? A  lot of private institutions have government affairs and public policy departments that are dedicated to working with regulators, legislators, legislators, policy makers, civil society, and thought leaders to really translate some of what the business priorities are to be a constructive partner in the host country, and to really do some commercial diplomacy, if you will.

For me, this really builds upon the work that I had been doing with the State Department as an economic officer. I worked closely with the African Union Commission, where I was at the US mission to the African Union, and now I'm doing it here for Google—working with the African Union Commission, U.N. agencies, and development banks. For me, these are critical partners, right? When we talk about what is the future vision, what are the priorities, what are the continent's priorities and potential, we really have to be talking to the leadership—and there's no greater convening mechanism than the African Union. It's really the continent's premier convening platform for the sharing of best practices and policies, and for setting the tone and the agenda for the continent.  It's a privilege to be able to work with this institution, and many other institutions, to see how Google can be helpful.

You know, 20 and 30 years ago, I would have argued with you in the sense that I think a lot of the institutions were still nascent, still developing. But I'm impressed with how quickly the capacity is growing—and you're right: One of the problems that we've seen for far too long is that we all have notions about where we want Africa to go. What we have not been as good at is actually asking Africans where 

 would like to go in terms of the future. You're obviously in a great place and well qualified.

Let me ask you this (and again, I started my career in a little village in Kenya, not too far from where you are). In my day, we only had a wind-up telephone, a single wind-up telephone in the entire village—a very different time—and I think when Westerners think of Africa, I think they're caught in that time warp, right? I think that's what they think about. Talk a little bit about how rapidly changing technology is causing a significant shift in the way that Africa operates commercially. Again, those opportunities are not just in [the] capitals, but throughout the continent.

Ambassador, you would be pleasantly surprised. We look forward to bringing you home to the continent so you can see just how much has changed in such a short period of time.  I live in Nairobi. I've been living there for about a year and a half at our Google office in Kenya. And I talked about this during the US-Africa Leaders Summit in December, but in the year and a half that I've been in Nairobi, I think I've seen Kenyan shillings—the Kenyan currency, the actual paper currency—less than a handful of times. I haven't had to use it at all because 

everything is conducted through digital payments

—from my electricity and water bills, to my hair to Uber [rides]. Everything is conducted through digital payments and digital transactions called M-Pesa.

We foresee the digital economy for the continent to be worth $180 billion dollars by 2025, that’s  about 5% of GDP for the continent. That's only a few years away. -Pren-Tsilya Boa Guehe

That, to me, speaks volumes about what is possible when we equip Africans with phones and devices, when we give technology a chance and innovation a chance. I mean, we talk about leapfrogging, but I think really what happens is the sprinting ahead, right? Leaps and bounds beyond what is even foreseeable. To see a country really operating at this scale on mobile payments and mobile phones for everything, it's just really incredible. And I think more of that is possible across the continent. Obviously, it's not equally and evenly distributed; we don't have the same levels of growth in all countries. Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt are really sort of anchor countries that are leading the digital economy, and it would be great to see more of that diversified throughout the continent.

You know, in my experience, Africans are among the most dynamic, entrepreneurial, creative people on the face of the earth. And I think in many ways Americans are sort of asleep at the switch and not realizing how rapidly Africans, particularly young African leaders, who are embracing the technology— groundbreaking, as you put it, payment apps and technology—[it’s] really quite startling. Given how rapidly it's going, talk a bit about what you see ahead. If we have this conversation five years from now, how different will it be?

I think there's a lot of potential opportunities that we can really seize, especially from a US government, [from a] US private sector perspective. There are a few upcoming opportunities, particularly the African Continental Free Trade Area. So, this is the African Union’s signature trade initiative to really create a single customs union for Africa—groundbreaking— to harmonize the rules across 55-member states, including with a digital trade provision that will talk about how we share data across Africa borders. How do we protect consumers and businesses? How do we bring more businesses online to facilitate e-commerce? And how do we adopt emerging technologies like cloud and AI? I think that is one really critical opportunity that we have. The African Union is working on this as we speak, and they're trying to finalize it before the end of the year.

The second opportunity on the US government side, we have a few. The US government launched the Digital Transformation with Africa initiative, which is focusing on modernizing our trade relationship with the continent, really to make the relationship keep up and fit for the digital age that we are currently in. How do we invest in human capital development, in infrastructure, in developing regulatory enablement, to drive more business on the continent and really do this as a partnership? And let's not forget AGOA. When I first started at the State Department, AGOA was like our signature trade initiative with the continent. I remember working on it in Zambia when we hosted a conference there and it was set to expire in 2025. This is really a pivotal opportunity as well—to not only renew AGOA, but hopefully revitalize it, so that it includes some digital economy provisions that can really set Africa up for the future. To center it and really not just have it be included, but have it lead in the digital economy for the world.

That's fantastic and extremely encouraging, right? I think for the longest time, Africa was really a place of lots of countries with relatively modest markets who, you know, didn't really have much in terms of policy coordination. And just as we were talking about the AU, that's just changing and it's changing really fast. Talk a bit about how important the economies of scale are. And then secondly, when we talk about Africa, it's not simply that you can pull together many millions of people. It's how young they are and how they're on the front-end of their careers and so as this technology becomes more and more available, it's going to have an exponential acceleration in the streams and flows and commercial opportunities.

That's right. And I think sometimes, for some reason, people are very surprised to hear that Africans exhibit some of the same consumer behaviors that we have in the West once they have access to devices. Once we have phones here on the continent, SMEs [small and medium sized enterprises], which are the backbone of African economies; in many countries, SMEs comprise 80 to 90% of the labor force and driving the revenue to these countries. But there was a report that came out—I want to say last month or a few months ago by the International Finance Corporation—that really highlighted that less than 7% of all SMEs—the some 44 million SMEs that exist on the continent—less than 7% are currently online or using digital technologies.

If the United States wants to be poised to benefit mutually from this growth, we need to position ourselves and really invest and contribute meaningfully to the development of the tech ecosystem here. -Pren-Tsilya Boa Guehe

In this globalized world—this globalized economy—if you don't have a presence, you're not present. You're missing out on market opportunities. You're missing opportunities for people to discover your products and to go beyond your physical location, for people to really identify and purchase the products and services. And so what we really have to do is focus on these 

SMEs that are the backbone of our economies

. How do we bring them—how do we accompany them—in the digital transformation journey? How do we realize the digital economy's potential? By increasing their skills, their access to capital, and helping to enable them to really drive innovation. I think it will come from them; the majority of what will come for the continent will come from SMEs. That's really where we have to start: at the base of the ecosystem, which is the SMEs.

We've seen between $4 to $6 billion per year being driven by African startups, leading to some of the top unicorns across the world. I think that can only grow if we really take the time to invest in the future of our young people. -Pren-Tsilya Boa Guehe

We foresee the digital economy for the continent to be worth 

, that’s  about 5% of GDP for the continent. That's only a few years away. Two years away, to be exact. It's within reach, but there are some really critical things that we have to do. We have to prioritize developing skills. We have to invest in infrastructure. We have to really leverage these regulatory enablement mechanisms that we have right now, and seize the opportunities so that we can get there in time for these young people who are going to drive us to the future.

You just started to talk about where I wanted to go next. It's extraordinary how much is happening, but we're not there yet in the sense that there are still some things that we need to do. You've talked about some of the investment that we need to make in young people. Talk a bit about the policies that we need to see to really fully open the door to the opportunities of this future

I think there's so much that young people are already doing on their own, right with the limited resources that we have on the continent. And it is so powerful to see that there are over 700,000 software developers on the continent today, and many of them are self-taught. They went online, found a program like  Coursera, for example, which Google offers, or an equivalent program,and taught themselves these high-value, high-income-earning skills that have created these high-demand jobs. Now we have a lot of young people building applications to create startups that are becoming 

 worth over $1 billion in valuation and really driving greater investment to the continent. And more than investment, they're driving innovation that is not just serving the population here, but being exported globally. It's a global good, right? When we invest in our young people, we're investing in ourselves as well in our future.

I think there's really a lot to be done here. One of the things that gives me a lot of optimism, I like the positive examples that I see in Kenya, where we are institutionalizing software developer training as part of the education curriculum. There's currently a pilot program to do this; they're called TVET, trade and vocational educational institutions. These are like alternatives to universities—trade schools—and they're offering these courses to students. As part of the formal curriculum, you can get a software developer certificate. I think that's phenomenal when a government can create regulations that enable the skill development that is required for the tech part of the ecosystem. You need those techies, those people who are highly skilled in the development of the technology.

And so we need governments—African governments—to be investing, to be developing curriculums that promote this—to be developing incentives for startups, and protections so that people want to and are encouraged to take risks and start a new product and launch it. Whether that's through tax incentives or leave so that they can have a job—or maybe take some leave to go start a new business. We need opportunities to encourage our young people to take those risks because when we do, it bears fruit. We've seen between $4 to $6 billion per year being driven by African startups, leading to some of the top unicorns across the world. I think that can only grow if we really take the time to invest in the future of our young people.

Obviously, Google is one of the world's largest and greatest technology companies. A few years ago, I had a conversation with someone at Google when they were talking about incentivizing participation of young people into software development and app design. They said, “Look, this isn't charity. This is instead unlocking what is often a unique, innovative, fresh approach to societal challenges using technology.” What have you seen in terms of unusual or unique African contributions to solutions that have come through the enabling of these technologies?

I've seen a lot of really, really great startups, and I was just thinking through the list of the many…

You had mentioned  M-Pesa, and by itself, if nothing else, that's a remarkable contribution.

It's a remarkable product, and we have a lot in fintech as well. 

 is a recent example that just happened this quarter, this year. InstaDeep is an API startup, and they were acquired by a company called BioNTech this year for over $600 million this year.

There are  really a lot of innovative products that are coming out of this. We did a startup pitch competition two weeks ago at the African Union Private Sector Forum that took place in Nairobi. We brought startups from Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya (of course)—and they were presenting all different types of products, right? One young person had a health application that tracks the current status of a sickness, of individuals that live in rural areas, and then transmits that data to community centers or clinics that are nearby—so really trying to facilitate access to health services.

We have a lot of development of access to loans and financial products to make finance and capital more accessible to people in rural areas. We saw a lot of those sorts of products, and I'm excited about agriculture in particular. We still have a lot of agrarian-based economies across the continent, and I've seen products where startups are using AI to look at things like the current status of the plants. (Is there some sort of sickness or disease that is plaguing the crops?) And there’s also a recommendation for how to treat that current crop. It’s really, really interesting.

Some of the technology is based off of Google's technology, the foundational models that we make accessible to the public, and  it’s really interesting to see how these young people take that technology, build upon it, and create something totally new that is relevant. [They’re]  really creating a solution to the needs in their communities and I think we'll see a lot more of a lot more of this.

I can tell you are rather depressed about your job and your work–obviously your enthusiasm is infectious and all that you see around you  are really bright spots when it comes to looking at the future. If I were to ask you what is the one thing you would like Americans to understand about today's Africa—the emerging Africa—that perhaps they're not prepared for, what would it be?

Ambassador, this is it! This is the real question here and I think you hit it—you hit the nail on the head in your introduction. The Africa of today is not the Africa of yesterday. With or without us, this continent is going to move forward. We're already in the midst of a digital revolution, and that's with little means and little resources.

If the United States wants to be poised to benefit mutually from this growth, we need to position ourselves and really invest and contribute meaningfully to the development of the tech ecosystem here. There's an unprecedented opportunity—a window of opportunity that we can seize right now—and we need to prepare ourselves by coming together, uniting the government, the US private sector, the African private sector, African governments. [By] having real conversations about some of the regulatory challenges and barriers, about some of the best practices that we're seeing that can be adopted on the African continent, about how  we [can] set a new standard for responsible use of AI on the continent and cloud. And really, how do we leverage technology to unleash some of that economic growth that we've been waiting to see realized across Africa? I would say the time is now. The Africa that we knew before, where we were focused on aid, is not the same. And if we don't see that, we will miss it. We will miss the party, we will miss the boat. That's my message.

That's a great message and that's the reason, quite frankly, that we're doing this 

special issue: because too many people don't realize the good news and the exciting opportunities that are occurring.

I think what's so exciting about it are the contributions that we're seeing from young, energetic, optimistic, bright, creative young Africans [that] will lift lives in far-off places—not just in their community, not just in their country, not even just in their continent, but really all over the world. I understand why you're excited. It is a great time. It is Africa's moment, as we all say. Thank you so much for your thoughts and ideas. You're really giving us good reason for hope. Again, not just hope for Africa, but hope for the world, as Africa gets its moment at the table and its opportunity to contribute. Thank you very much.

Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure, and I look forward to seeing what comes out of these discussions, and how we can continue to collaborate together going forward. I really appreciate it.

Thank you again for being with us, and to our audience, I thank you for joining us. I hope you take some time to explore the rest of this special edition of the 

. This is Africa's time on the world stage, increasingly, and I think it's important for all of us to understand where Africa has been—and more importantly, where Africa is going. Thanks, everyone.

Ambassador Mark A. Green (ret.) is the president and CEO of the Wilson Center. From 2017 to 2020, Green served as administrator of the US Agency for International Development. He has also served as president of the International Republican Institute, executive director of the McCain Institute, president of the Initiative for Global Development, and senior director at the US Global Leadership Coalition. Green served as the US ambassador to Tanzania from mid-2007 to early 2009, as well as four terms in the US House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin’s 8th District.

Pren-Tsilya is the government affairs & public policy manager for Google.

Cover photo: Google's offices in Accra, Gahna, courtesy of Google. 

In this multimedia feature, Ambassador Mark A. Green (ret.), president and CEO of the Wilson Center, speaks with Pren-Tsilya Boa-Guehe, Google’s head for Pan-African institutions, government affairs, and public policy. They discuss how technological advancements are booming across Africa, guiding the continent toward economic opportunities, and creating a path for fruitful US and global collaboration with African innovators.

We hear from Google's head of Pan-African institutions, government affairs, and public policy about Africa’s burgeoning technology landscape, and why she is so optimistic about the continent’s future.

Talking Tech With Google

When I’m introduced to audiences as an Africanist or, more often, as “an Africa guy,” people tend to chalk it up to nostalgia from my long, deep ties to the continent. I often tell people that everything I learned about development policy goes back to my days nearly 30 years ago as a teacher in a small village school in western Kenya.

My African roots and heritage go back even further. My father was born and raised in Queenstown, South Africa, and went to medical school at Johannesburg’s 

. My grandfather, great grandfather, and other relatives worked at newspapers in Queenstown and East London, South Africa. I was even baptized on a farm near Cathcart in South Africa’s Eastern Cape—but the Africa I know is about much more than family ties and nostalgia.

In my days in Congress in the 2000s, I worked closely with President George W. Bush’s team to forge legislation leading to the formation of the 

President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief

—successful initiatives that changed the course of human history in many parts of Africa. Perhaps because of that work, President Bush asked me to serve as US Ambassador to Tanzania in 2007 

 for the first official visit by a sitting US president. I also served as administrator of the US Agency for International Development where I continued to work with resourceful Africans across many different sectors.

I simply believe that in a time when there are so many cross-border and global challenges confronting us no solution will be achievable or sustainable unless young African minds have a seat at the table.

That is only a small part of the reason I am an Africa guy: I simply believe that in a time when there are so many cross-border and global challenges confronting us; a time when we need to develop new sources of energy; a time when we need to find new approaches to addressing the causes and consequences of sweeping human displacement; a time when we need to find ways to harness technology to improve food production and health outcomes; a time when we need to enhance conflict resolution and protect human freedom from those who would subjugate it to state control. None of these solutions will be achievable or sustainable unless young African minds have a seat at the table.

Those who see hope in Africa’s natural wealth—from oil and gas in places like Angola, Mozambique, and Nigeria, to critical mineral reserves in places like South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Others point to Africa’s strategic ports in places like Djibouti, the Cape of Good Hope, Dar es Salaam, Lagos and, of course, the Suez Canal. But the greatest natural wealth in the Africa I know lies in its people. Creative, ambitious, aspirational and, yes, impatient for their moment in the sun—a moment that the world keeps telling them is at hand. Many years ago, visitors to the continent would comment on the village children they saw who turned tin cans into toys and scrap metal into machines. Now young Africans have mobile phones in their hands and are building their own apps with remarkable results. As even more powerful technologies and technology teachers are increasingly within reach, what the International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva described as a “

The US and other donor nations have a crucial role to play. For the longest time, our programs have treated African nations as though they were hopeless and helpless. We spend less time listening to Africans to better understand their needs, priorities, and aspirations—and more time telling them what we are going to give them, whether they like it or not. More broadly, we haven’t worked with young African leaders to craft a vision for success. What do we all want the US-Africa relationship to look like 10 years from now? How can we be a better partner on this journey to self-reliance? In a brighter future, how can they move from being traditional aid recipients to partners to someday fellow donors?

, we provide a glimpse of contemporary Africa—with its distinct countries, cultures, and creative forces—the Africa that has been growing and evolving while many of us were distractedly looking elsewhere.

, we provide a glimpse of contemporary Africa—with its distinct countries, cultures, and creative forces—the Africa that has been growing and evolving while many of us were distractedly looking elsewhere. We hear from African leaders in trade and technology, trailblazers in the growing (and increasingly lucrative) creative sector, and respected advisors on governance and democracy. We also get a peek into the diversity of Africa’s population with stories from and about people doing extraordinary things. We see an Africa that is proactively finding solutions to their own challenges, and those that must be confronted around the globe.

Yes, I am an African guy and I do think back to those days in the village. But I do so because the dreams I saw in the big bright eyes of my students at Makhokho Secondary School were the same dreams I saw in my own children years later. There is power in those dreams—power that can lift lives and countries—and, I hope, the world.

Ambassador Mark A. Green (ret.) is president & CEO of the Wilson Center.

Cover photo:  Mark A. Green, in 2008, as US ambassador to Tanzania, presents a student in Dar es Salaam with a soccer ball. (Photo courtesy US Navy)

Drawing on his family ties to South Africa and his professional interactions with the continent including as US Ambassador to Tanzania, USAID administrator, and other global leadership roles, Green reflects on the Africa he knows.

Foreword: The Africa I Know

In my days teaching school in rural East Africa, I relished my weekly trips to the open market or 

. Walking through a sea of grass mats where villagers (usually old women) were hawking pyramids of vegetables, piles of spices, mounds of dried fish, and more, I loved the sights, and sounds, and smells.

But what made it special wasn’t merely the goods being offered, it was the human interaction at the heart of that gathering place. Buyers, sellers—even 

 like me—were communicating with each other in the most basic—and human—of ways.

Ninety-five percent of the world’s population lives outside the United States, and many of them are potential consumers for what our farmers grow and for what our companies produce.

When I stopped in front of a mat that caught my eye, a ritual began that would be repeated by others over and over again in every corner of the soko, in every soko in the country, and likely across the continent. Marshaling my best (and butchered) Kiswahili, I’d ask “mama” how much she wanted for those tomatoes. She would come in too high—we both knew it—and I would chuckle and she’d break into a smile. When I gently pushed back, she would talk about the quality of those tomatoes or the costs that she faced, and we’d slowly and smoothly reach an agreement on price. I also knew how to seal the deal. Switching to her mother tongue of Kiluhya, I’d ask her if she would be willing to add just a little bit more to her offering. She’d roar with laughter (after all, I am a mzungu), then comply.

Neither of us had “won” or “lost.” The transaction didn’t necessarily make us friends, but it did make us partners. Each of us was glad the other had been there, and each of us was satisfied that a need had been met. In all my trips to the soko, I never once saw a buyer and seller end up in fisticuffs or even harsh words.

I'm sometimes asked why countries receiving American foreign aid “don’t like us more.” Implicit in the question is the notion that such nations should be sincerely grateful for American assistance, and that gratitude should translate into open praise and support for American policy.

While I am confident recipient countries 

 grateful for our assistance—especially what comes in response to disaster or crisis—I would also understand it if there were also a little hint of resentment. No human being wants to be dependent on others for his or her needs, and no real leader is satisfied with his or her country being dependent on another for its economic future.

As administrator of USAID, I used to argue that the purpose of our foreign assistance should be ending its need to exist—that we should aim to walk side by side with countries on their journey to self-reliance. I believed then, as I do now, that we should prioritize support for initiatives and reforms that accelerate capacity-building and which target barriers to inclusive, sustainable economic growth. We should help our partners to become better equipped for what, in my experience, they want most: the kind of trade and investment that leads to good-paying jobs and opportunities—especially for their youth.

Yes, trade needs to be fair. Yes, trade must take into account some of the world’s sweeping challenges like preserving biodiversity and strengthening climate resilience. But make no mistake, trade is essential if we’re going to forge a more prosperous future.

If I had simply walked through the market each week handing out cash, I would have gradually destroyed the sense of community and shared humanity that made the soko the centerpiece of village life. My neighbors would likely have grown to resent my presence and the message of superiority that such activities would have sent, whether intentional or not. Hard to blame them.

America needs to expand its trade relationships for a wide range of reasons. Trade helps us grow, and it supports good-paying jobs back home. Ninety-five percent of the world’s population lives outside the United States, and many of them are potential consumers for what our farmers grow and for what our companies produce. Trade can bring profits to business, and higher wages to workers. It spurs innovation, and the development of new products and technologies—some of which will lift the human condition. 

But trade relationships are also important because they softly bind countries together in ways we often take for granted. The spirit of commerce can decrease conflict and increase collaboration. It doesn’t always turn enemies into allies or strangers into friends, but it gives partners a shared stake in order and stability. In short, boosting trade can strengthen trust at a time when trust seems to be in short supply.

Yet trade hasn’t simply fallen out of political fashion here in the US, it’s become the equivalent of a dirty word. Populists on the far right and left rail against trade as though it were a pestilence. Meanwhile, other trading nations are moving on without us—making money, growing jobs, and changing attitudes about where their interests lie.

Every week, it seems there’s an announcement of a major infrastructure project that doesn’t involve the US, our partners, or friends. The UK recently announced that it’s joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, after its previous incarnation was rejected by both President Trump and his 2020 rival Hillary Rodham Clinton. At the end of 2022, the UK completed trade deals with Australia and New Zealand, and it has announced that it’s pursuing agreements in 2023 with India, Canada, Mexico, and the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC. For its part, Australia is in negotiations for trade agreements with India and the EU, and considering deals with the UAE and GCC. And China has applied to join the CPTPP.

While governments the world over say that America is their preferred partner and sought-after investor, they also see the world changing and new opportunities emerging. It appears they feel the need to move ahead without us.

Yes, trade needs to be fair. Yes, trade must take into account some of the world’s sweeping challenges like preserving biodiversity and strengthening climate resilience. But make no mistake, trade is essential if we’re going to forge a more prosperous future, and we shouldn’t begrudge other countries that already see it that way. 

 looks at how countries around the world are pursuing new trade relationships with and without the US. We see how the Abraham Accords have opened the door to a new wave of economic activity and innovation in the region, and is setting the stage for others outside the region to join in. We see how leaders in Africa are moving to implement a new continent-wide trade zone agreement that could create vast market opportunities and new purchasing power in African countries. The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, received the largest bipartisan vote of any free trade agreement in history. In this issue, we learn that other nations would like to join USMCA or have something similar in place with the United States. And as President Biden marks the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, we speak with several business owners in Ireland who are navigating the realities of Brexit while pinning their hopes on trade to invigorate peace and profits.

As international managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgiva, has put it, we are living in a “shock-prone world” these days. The economic catastrophes inflicted on the world by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine have changed the economic calculations of entrepreneurs and economic policy leaders in many parts of the world. Nearshoring and friend-shoring are now policy imperatives. But as we think about this world and America’s role in shaping it, I can’t help but think back—wistfully and strategically—to that little village in East Africa and the relationships built in and around the marketplace.

 is the President and CEO of the Wilson Center. 

Cover photo: Traditional African markets operates much as they have for generations, although today many vendors accept credit cards and use other forms of cashless payments. Shutterstock/

In his foreword to the WQ’s spring issue Ambassador Mark Green reflects on his days teaching school in rural East Africa and as USAID Administrator to show how Global Trade can bring countries together.

Foreword: When Goods Cross Borders

“The world is a small place”: This phrase is used countless times, each and every day, all around the world. It’s in this spirit that leaders in both the public and private sectors have been chasing globalization over the years, . . . through progressive trade policies, innovative financial instruments, and complex global supply chains.

Those trends have been disrupted by a series of era-defining events: the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and multiple weather-driven disasters. Each serves to remind us of vulnerabilities in our critical supply chains and how those vulnerabilities can upend individual lives, US and global economies, and everything in between.

All the experts who we spoke with agree: much work remains to be done across sectors and partnerships to prepare the world for inevitable future shocks.

For American business, the long-standing priority of sourcing goods and services at the lowest cost is now being balanced against a sharper focus on trust, reliability, and responsibility. For governments, supply chain disruptions have jeopardized food and health security, economic growth rates, and a “shock free” energy future. For individual consumers, supply chain uncertainties are making it harder for some to find affordable choices in food, cars, medicines, and other products.

 offers an overview of current supply chain thinking and also highlights streams of innovation that could help policymakers and trendsetters blaze a more optimistic trail during these unsettling, important times. Drawing on the impressive work of Wilson Center scholars and programs, and our deep network of journalists, policy analysts, and business leaders, we look ahead to the “what ifs,” and try to identify signposts to supply chain solutions.

 Our commitment to bipartisan scholarship on this vital and complex topic is steadfast.

As Strong as Our Weakest Link: Strengthening Global Supply Chains in a Rapidly Changing World

 has both depth and breadth. Topics include:

While there has thankfully been some easing of the supply chain challenges we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic, all the experts who we spoke with agree: much work remains to be done across sectors and partnerships to prepare the world for inevitable future shocks. The fall 

supply chain reports, analyses, and other content

 from the Wilson Center. Our commitment to bipartisan scholarship on this vital and complex topic is steadfast.

Ambassador Mark A. Green is the president & CEO of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars

Cover photo: 2020 Steeve Raye/Shutterstock.

The world is small, until it isn't. Global supply chain challenges remind us of that every day.

Wilson Center President & CEO Ambassador Mark Green previews the issue and reinforces the Wilson Center’s commitment to providing bipartisan solutions for this vital and challenging issue.

Wilson Center President & CEO Mark A. Green previews the issue and reinforces the Wilson Center’s commitment to providing bipartisan solutions for this vital and challenging issue.

Foreword: As Strong as our Weakest Link

Foreword: As Strong as Our Weakest Link

My mother was a little girl in London during the Blitz. So, like many others of my generation, I was raised to see the world in terms of “good guys" and "bad guys.” We have to be the good guys, and our mission on the world stage should be to find, and assist, more good guys along the way.

Even in these complicated times, those notions are still part of my fiber. But I’ve also come to realize that advancing American interests, as well as lifting the human condition, sometimes requires partnering with countries who don’t fit so easily into those good guy / bad guy buckets. Some try to justify these collaborations by claiming that our values and principles will “rub off” on our partners—that these partners will become “better” merely through our interactions. Of course, in reality, that’s rarely the case. If these partners “evolve,” it’s usually independent of our collaboration and often because of material benefits they gain in the bargain.

Some justify relationships like the U.S.-Egypt relationship as “complicated.” They’re not complicated at all. Not if you’re clear-eyed and honest with yourself.

We should admit to ourselves that we cooperate with these actors simply because we need to: it’s the most effective, and sometimes the only, way to achieve specific goals that serve our national interests. We are unlikely to rub off on them, and we shouldn’t let them rub off on us. Hopefully, these partnerships are rare — as in rarely needed — but sometimes they are the price of global leadership.

I first became the president of the International Republican Institute in early 2014, not long after the Government of Egypt had raided the Cairo offices of the IRI, the National Democratic Institute, Freedom House, and the German Adenauer Foundation. Egypt accused these NGOs of undermining the Egyptian state, even as the U.S., Germany, and others were pouring billions of dollars into Egypt to support it after the tumultuous and, for a time, hopeful Arab Spring revolution. Forty-three of our staff were tried and convicted by Egyptian courts (mostly in absentia) and were given sentences of up to five years in prison, their freedom threatened for daring to promote freedom for others.

The Obama administration and legislative leaders of both parties and both chambers of Congress took up the cause of this injustice both publicly and privately. The late democracy warriors John McCain and Madeleine Albright (who chaired the IRI and NDI, respectively) were forceful (often in colorful terms) with representatives of the Egyptian government whenever they had the chance. Ultimately, the sentences for the NGO workers were overturned in 2018, but not before relations between Egypt and the U.S. had been badly damaged.

I believe that America is made of more idealistic stuff than Kissinger would prefer, and perhaps our defining foreign policy challenge is to reconcile the good with the bad in an increasingly complicated world.

And yet, during the eleven days of terrible violence in Gaza in 2021, we were all grateful for the role Egypt played to mediate a cease fire. Egypt remains a pivotal country in the Middle East. With the largest population in the region, a big economy, and a vibrant and influential culture, Egypt plays an outsized role in the Middle East and beyond. Egypt was the first Arab state to recognize Israel, and continues to play a constructive role in Israeli security to this day. Twelve percent of the world’s trade in goods passes through the 

. So, despite troubling trends in human rights, the U.S. continues to work with Egypt as a major strategic partner and non-NATO ally.

Some justify relationships like the U.S.-Egypt relationship as “complicated.” They’re not complicated at all--not if you’re clear-eyed and honest with yourself.

 provides glimpses into some of these relationships, these partnerships-for-a-purpose. We explore some of the United States' trickiest relationships—countries we work with out of necessity or affinity, but with which we also harbor major differences.

We examine the U.S. relationship with Egypt, as well as that with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and others. And, we explore one of the most challenging relationships of all, that with China, which perhaps defines all other difficult relationships around the world.

Henry Kissinger once said that “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests”—a decidedly realist outlook that reflected a calculating Cold War mindset. Yet I believe that America is made of more idealistic stuff than Kissinger would prefer, and perhaps our defining foreign policy challenge is to reconcile the good with the bad in an increasingly complicated world.

Ambassador Mark Green is President & CEO of the Wilson Center.

In this issue of the Wilson Quarterly, we explore some of the United States' trickiest relationships—countries we work with out of necessity or affinity, but with which we also harbor major differences.