CGD Podcast – Anne-Marie Slaughter: Any Secretary of State ‘would be a fool to give up’ QDDR

Date: May 5, 2015
Host: Rajesh Merchandani (Center for Global Development)
Guest: Anne-Marie Slaughter (President & CEO, New America)

Overview

In this episode of the CGD Podcast, Rajesh Merchandani sits down with Anne-Marie Slaughter following her Richard Sabat Memorial Lecture, “Her Horizons and Boundaries: What Technology can do for Development and what It Cannot.” Slaughter shares her insights on the transformative power and limitations of technology in international development, the crucial role of policy and cooperation, the significance of the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR), and evolving opportunities for women and girls globally.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Limits and Promise of Technology for Development

• “More is not better” in data and information

  • Slaughter highlights the overwhelming amount of data humanity now produces, making the real challenge not collection but meaningful filtering and management.
    • “There was a prediction that the amount of digital data at the global level grew from 150 exabytes in 2005 to 1200 exabytes in 2010… That much data is useless. You might as well have none, right?” – Anne-Marie Slaughter [00:47]
  • The bottleneck today is attention, not information:
    • “The human mind really can't comprehend how much data is out there… Your capacity for absorption is finite. So more is not better.” – Anne-Marie Slaughter [02:18]

• Examples of technology’s positive impact on development

  • Solar power’s growing affordability and accessible mapping technology in crisis response (e.g., post-Nepal earthquake) are breakthroughs that exemplify the upsides of tech for development.
  • “That's like a Columbus moment… Now that map that we all carry around in our heads of where we are and where others are, we can actually make that representation.” – Anne-Marie Slaughter [04:01]
  • Open access to education (like MOOCs), global knowledge, and digital tracking of corruption and conservation present new opportunities.

• Policy and enforcement as the real constraints

  • Technology alone cannot drive inclusive benefits; sound policy and willingness to enforce it are essential.
    • “You can drop technology all over the place. What will happen is that the cleverest, the greediest, and probably some of the most criminal are likely to use it… Policy is government coming together and saying, here are the permitted areas... Equally importantly, there has to be the willingness then to engage people around the actual enforcement of that policy.” – Anne-Marie Slaughter [05:36]

Global vs. Regional Cooperation & the SDGs

• Global cooperation is harder; regional and informal agreements may lead the way

  • Slaughter sees the era of big, binding global accords as fading:
    • “Once we got past a certain number of nations and superpowers… to a world of almost 200 nations where anyone can be a spoiler, I think the kinds of big global accords we’re going to get are going to be pretty vague.” [06:59]
  • She’s optimistic about the rise of regional coalitions and informal networks of government officials collaborating cross-border.

• On the SDGs and development finance: optimism with caveats

  • The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and now SDGs matter primarily as legitimate aspirations that empower domestic advocates, even if not formally enforced.
    • “What that really did was to empower energetic, well-intentioned government officials and civil society and even corporations to have a benchmark or an aspiration.” [08:25]
  • Future progress in development finance will hinge on unprecedented private sector involvement.

The Importance and Legacy of the QDDR

• Second QDDR signals a new norm in US diplomacy and development

  • Slaughter initiated the first QDDR at the State Department; she emphasizes that the second review cements the process and practice.
    • “The thing I’m most thrilled about is that there is a second one. It’s hard to have a quadrennial review if it’s only one.” [09:57]
  • Focus of QDDR 2: practical skills, development at the center, partnerships beyond government, knowledge management, and data-driven innovation.

• QDDR as a crucial tool for future administrations

  • “I think any individual secretary would be a fool to give up that kind of a tool.” [11:04]
  • The QDDR offers each Secretary of State a chance to leave their mark and clarify priorities, even without legal mandate to continue.

• Shift in US view of development: self-interest, not just charity

  • Elevating development is not merely altruistic – it aligns with long-term US interests.
    • “It is in the United States self-interest to invest in countries’ prosperity and health and literacy and security. And that needs to be understood as what I call realism with a longer time frame.” [11:54]
  • Recognizing development as a strategic investment is essential for the US and global stability.

Women, Girls, and the Evolving Gender Equality Agenda

• Great transformation in opportunities for women in developed countries

  • Slaughter is “a complete optimist” about progress in the US, recalling the rapid shift within her own lifetime.
    • “The opportunities for women and girls in the United States have been revolutionized in my lifetime… It was unimaginable that we would have had a woman Secretary of State, much less 3, when I was growing up.” [13:16]

• The focus in developed and developing countries now diverges

  • In the US, the emphasis should move from women per se to valuing the role of care for all, regardless of gender.
    • “We need to focus less on women and more on care, more on the value of caring for others, whether that is done by women or men.” [13:38]
  • In developing countries, the struggle remains fundamental: recognition and enforcement of basic rights.

• Reflections on “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All” and societal changes ahead

  • The conversation revisits her pivotal 2012 article, clarifying her intent:
    • “The point… was to say, here are the changes we still need to make so that women can have the same opportunities men do.” [14:49]
  • True equality depends on recognition that “you cannot expect any human being, man or woman, to go all out on their career and raise children and take care of parents all at the same time. Men couldn’t do it, women can’t do it.” [15:06]
  • The path forward requires broader social transformation in how societies value both productive and caring roles.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On data overload:

  • “That much data is useless. You might as well have none, right?” – Anne-Marie Slaughter [00:47]

• On the data challenge:

  • “More is not better. Meaning for all this explosion of knowledge and information, the real work is, is the filtering, the managing, the searching, the interoperability of different systems so that we can tame all that data.” – Anne-Marie Slaughter [02:18]

• On technology’s limits:

  • “You can drop technology all over the place. What will happen is that the cleverest, the greediest, and probably… the most criminal are likely to use it.” – Anne-Marie Slaughter [05:36]

• On the SDGs’ real value:

  • “What that really did was to empower energetic, well intentioned government officials… to have a benchmark or to have an aspiration and to say, look, this has been legitimized we should do it.” – Anne-Marie Slaughter [08:25]

• On development as self-interest:

  • “It is in the United States self-interest to invest in countries’ prosperity and health and literacy and security. And that, that needs to be understood as what I call realism with a longer time frame.” – Anne-Marie Slaughter [11:54]

• On gender equality’s next phase:

  • “We’re all focused on breadwinning and we’re not focused on what it takes to actually care for each other, whether we’re young or old or sick or temporarily disabled.” – Anne-Marie Slaughter [13:38]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:47] – Explosion of digital data, the exabyte/petabyte illustration, and the challenge of data overload
• [02:18] – “More is not better”: limits of human attention, the challenge of information filtering
• [04:01] – Mapping technology as a “Columbus moment” for disaster relief and inclusion
• [05:36] – The necessity of policy and enforcement to direct technology for good
• [06:59] – Waning age of big global accords, rise of regional and informal cooperation
• [08:25] – The real impact of the SDGs: setting aspirational benchmarks
• [09:57] – Importance and future of the QDDR process at State Department
• [11:04] – The QDDR as a must-have tool for future Secretaries of State
• [11:54] – Reframing development as self-interest for the US
• [13:16] – Revolutionized opportunities for women in the US; context for gender progress
• [14:49] – Clarifying “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” and calling for societal change
• [15:06] – On the impossibility of “having it all” at once and the value of care

Summary

Anne-Marie Slaughter argues passionately for a nuanced view of technology’s promise—underscoring the vital importance of smart policies, regional collaboration, and societal recognition of care as core to development. Whether discussing the symbolic and practical significance of the QDDR, the strategic necessity of putting development and diplomacy on equal footing with defense, or the ongoing struggle for real gender equality, Slaughter blends realism with optimism. In her words, “any Secretary of State would be a fool to give up” the QDDR or the broader project of making development central to both US foreign policy and global progress.