On January 24, 2018, Greg Gottlieb gave a lecture at the Friedman Seminar. He examines the increasing influence of national security and politics on U.S. development and relief programs, using Pakistan (where he served as the USAID Mission Director from 2013 – 2015 at the height of US development assistance there).

While not a new phenomenon, the post-9/11 world has brought development deeper into the orbit of national security concerns. The seminar reviewed the ups and downs of relations with Pakistan, the circumstances that caused Congress to authorize a ten-fold rise in annual development funding, and the political and national security wrestling matches that ensued over the suite of development programs to undertake and their subsequent operation. Through his lecture, Greg drew out lessons-learned for future participants in both the development and national security spheres, such as how to navigate the inherent tensions between achieving national security and political objectives and at the same time achieving development goals.