Right Web

PRA's Right Web neither represents nor endorses any of the individuals or groups profiled on this site.

Carol Adelman, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, is a specialist in international aid and health issues. She is director of Hudson's Center for Global Prosperity, which, according to its promotional material, "supports free societies, including capital markets, rule of law, government transparency, free trade and press, human rights, and private property-prerequisites for economic health and well being." Although apparently not a hardliner in the same vein as her husband, former Reagan administration official Ken Adelman, she is a strong supporter of rightist foreign policies, particularly those dealing with international aid efforts. She opposes loosening restrictions on patents-a move that might help poorer countries develop affordable drugs to fight off health crises-and she stridently defends U.S. spending on international aid efforts, which are among the lowest in terms of GNP of all developed countries.

Though U.S. government aid as a percentage of GNP is low, U.S. private giving is another matter, Adelman says, one that should be taken into consideration when citing figures regarding U.S. aid. The Center for Global Prosperity launched in April 2006 the first "Index of Global Philanthropy," which "details the source-and magnitude-of U.S. private international giving, and demonstrates that the most effective philanthropic bridge between industrialized countries and developing nations is built on private philanthropy, volunteerism, and public-private partnerships, not exclusively government foreign aid" (Hudson Institute, April 12, 2006).

"The conventional assumption that foreign aid counts only when it comes from governments is caught in the time warp of the Marshall Plan era, when private investment and charity abroad were minimal," wrote Adelman after the index's publication. "There is a new world of giving, which sees poor people as active partners, not as helpless pawns waiting for the next cash installment" (Providence Journal, June 1, 2006). While it is doubtless true that private giving has increased since World War II, Adelman's argument seems aimed at justifying standard rightist opinions about limiting the size of government and minimizing state responsibility toward the developing world.

Those who want to couple the power of markets to their donations are what Adelman calls "philanthro-capitalists:" a "new breed . with 'soft heart, hard head' approaches, they are bringing business techniques, accountability, transparency, and results to remote villages in need. Corporations and churches are moving beyond relief projects to create lasting institutions in developing countries."

"In 2004, [Americans] gave at least $71 billion to poor people abroad," Adelman writes in the 2006 index's introduction. Yet this number includes approximately $47 billion in remittances abroad-which includes money sent home from foreign nationals inside the U.S. borders, a nit that economist/political scientist Daniel Drezner once picked with Adelman's previous work on private giving. In a 2003 Foreign Affairs article, Adelman wrote that when it comes to aid from America, "It is the private money that is making the difference" (Foreign Affairs, November/December 2003). But Drezner concluded: "I don't think Adelman is incorrect in her core thesis. But lumping remittances in with charity flows exaggerates the generosity of Americans as a people" (DanielDrezner.com, October 29, 2003).

Soon after its publication, the figures from the index were already being cited by the State Department (Office of the Spokesman, May 10, 2006). Ruth Wedgwood and James Woolsey are among several figures who comprised the index's advisory board.

Adelman has been working on the topic of U.S. private aid for several years. According to a 2003 Washington File report about Adelman's contribution to a USAID report: "Adelman presented some of her research findings that seemed to contradict frequent international criticism of Americans as being 'stingy on foreign aid' . She said her data shows that Americans, rather than being 'stingy,' are 'the most generous people in the world' when contributions beyond official U.S. government foreign aid are taken into account" (Washington File, January 7, 2003).

Adelman and her husband have a side business, Movers and Shakespeares, which trains high-powered CEOs from firms like Northrop Grumman in management and communication strategies by using Shakespeare as a learning tool. According to People magazine: "The Adelmans have long looked to the Bard as an aid in navigating the labyrinths of politics, business, and family life . And since 1998 they have offered his wisdom to CEOs and bigwigs-to-be through their company Movers and Shakespeares. Their workshops-which last from 90 minutes to several days and cost from $4,000 to $18,000-are taught at such institutions as Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. The idea: to use the playwright's words to teach managerial skills. Each workshop ends with students donning Elizabethan garb to act out what they've learned. 'I've gotten more VIPs into tights and codpieces than anyone in this country,' says Carol" (People, March 11, 2002).