Transformational Leadership: Models for Policy Innovation from the Continents of the Atlantic Basin

8/9/2019 Transformational Leadership: Models for Policy Innovation from the Continents of the Atlantic Basin

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WIDER ATLANTIC POLICY PAPER SERIES

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIPModels for Policy Innovation from the Continents of the Atlantic Basin

MEGAN DOHERTY

KEVIN COTTRELL

LORA BERG

ADNAN KIFAYAT


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About the Wider Atlantic Program

Te Wider Atlantic program is a research and convening partnership o GMF and Morocco’s OCP Policy Center. Te pro-gram explores the north-south and south-south dimensions o transatlantic relations, including the role o A rica and LatinAmerica, and issues affecting the Atlantic Basin as a whole.

About GMF

Te German Marshall Fund o the United States (GMF) strengthens transatlantic cooperation on regional, national, andglobal challenges and opportunities in the spirit o the Marshall Plan. GMF contributes research and analysis and convenesleaders on transatlantic issues relevant to policymakers. GMF offers rising leaders opportunities to develop their skills andnetworks through transatlantic exchange, and supports civil society in the Balkans and Black Sea regions by ostering demo-cratic initiatives, rule o law, and regional cooperation. Founded in 1972 as a non-partisan, non-prot organization througha gif rom Germany as a permanent memorial to Marshall Plan assistance, GMF maintains a strong presence on both sides

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OCP Policy Center is a Moroccan think tank whose mission is to contribute to knowledge-sharing and analysis o keyeconomic and international relations issues essential to the development o Morocco and A rica, through independentresearch as well as a network o partners and leading scholars. It also strives to make a meaning ul contribution in the areaso agriculture, environment, and ood security; economic and social development; commodity economics; and “GlobalMorocco”, a program dedicated to understanding key strategic regional and global trends shaping Morocco’s uture. OCPPolicy Center aims to bring a “southern perspective” rom an A rican middle-income country to the agenda o major globaldebates, explaining the challenges that emerging countries ace. Te Policy Center also emphasizes developing a network oyoung leaders.

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T LM P I C

A B

W A P P

A

By Megan Doherty, Kevin Cottrell, Lora Berg, and Adnan Kifayat1

1 Megan Doherty is a fellow, Kevin Cottrell is the director, Lora Berg is a senior fellow, and Adnan Kifayat is a senior fellowwith the Transatlantic Leadership Initiatives program at The German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Conclusions and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14


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T ransformational styles public and civic leadershwill most effectivelyaddress the problemsfacing economies and

societies on the continen surrounding the Atlanticthe decades to come.

T ransformative growth and developmentare integrating continents around theAtlantic Basin to an unprecedented degreenot witnessed since explorers forged the firsttransatlantic trade links in the 15th and 16thcenturies. The economic development of Africaand Latin America is reshaping internationaltrading patterns. The Europe-United Statesrelationship continues to be the world’s foremosttrading partnership, with a long shared historyforged by migration links and political and policytraditions. Economic development, the responsible

stewardship of shared natural resources, andpublic health management are examples of policytopics that either trigger disputes among AtlanticBasin nations or provide opportunities to cometogether to work toward shared solutions. Yetas the region integrates, continued developmentwill depend to a large degree on the ability ofgovernment and civic leaders to address economic,social, and political problems with innovativepolicymaking. Transformational styles of publicand civic leadership will most effectively addressthe problems facing economies and societies onthe continents surrounding the Atlantic in thedecades to come. Case studies profiling examplesof transformational leadership taken from aroundthe region demonstrate that the most effectivelocal leaders to date have fulfilled the followingthree criteria: 1) they are open to new ideas andfresh solutions; 2) they form bold, cross-cuttingcoalitions for collaboration; and 3) they work tobuild sustainable “leadership pipelines”1 that ensuretheir reforms garner broad-based support.1 “Leadership pipeline” is a term derived from business managementcircles that refers to the strategic recruitment and cultivation of talentedpersonnel in junior and mid-level ranks, with an eye to sustaining thehighest caliber leadership at the executive level in the long term. Organi-zations that emphasize creating and sustaining leadership pipelines ofteninvest in comprehensive training programs and develop frameworks toidentify future leaders, assess their competence, plan their development,and measure results. This term was largely popularized by Ran Charam,Stephan Drotter, and James Noel,The Leadership Pipeline: How to Buildthe Leadership Powered Company (San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons,2011 [2000]).

The definition of transformational leadership usedin this paper takes its cue from participatory andrelational theories of leadership development.Such theories have ascended in prominencesince the 1990s, as part of a turn away fromearlier paradigms that emphasized authorityand institutional structures in the early-to-mid 20th centuries, contingency theories thatcame into vogue in the 1960s,2 followed by theinfluence of the counterculture on businessmanagement practices in the 1960s and 1970s.3 Relational theories emphasize characteristics

such as collaboration, collective motivation,and strict adherence to ethical norms — which,when combined, enable individuals, politicalentities, or companies to achieve transformation

2 Contingency leadership theory asserts there is no single way of leading,and that leadership style must take its cue from each situation. Thisperspective is typical of the epistemological turn that typified manyschools of scholarship, as well as cultural cr iticism, architecture, and art,in the post-1945 period — different strands of what collectively is oftenreferred to as “the post-modern turn.” Fiedler’s contingency theory andHersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory typify this perspec-tive. See Fred Fiedler,Leader Attitudes and Group Effectiveness (Urbana:University of Illinois Press, 1958); and Paul Hersey and Kenneth H.Blanchard, Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human

Resources, 2nd ed., (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1972). For a briefoverview of historical schools of leadership development theory, see alsoMegan Doherty, “Transatlantic Take: German’s Leadership Question onthe Eve of the Elections,”The German Marshall Fund of the United States ,September 11, 2013,http://blog.gmfus.org/2013/09/11/germanys-leader-ship-question-on-the-eve-of-elections/.

3 The term “counterculture” is attributed to Theodore Roszak,The Making of a Counter Culture (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1969), andbecame prominent in the media and popular discourse during theupheaval that accompanied the period of social unrest during the 1960sand 1970s. It refers to a “fringe culture” — often comprised of youngpeople — that defines its values in opposition to mainstream norms. Itis sometimes conceptualized as standing in opposition to mass cultureand authoritarianism. Many strands of the counterculture of the 1960semphasized communitarian values that were cast as the opposite of theindividualistic ethos of mainstream capitalism. Historians of businesshave demonstrated the ways the values and practices of the 1960s coun-terculture — which implicitly critiqued the apparently conformist andmaterialistic business world — were eventually assimilated and adoptedwithin the business world itself. From corporate retreats and professionaldevelopment practices that took cues from the Encounter Movement,to branding that took cues from the burgeoning youth culture, the linesbetween counterculture and mainstream were much more fluid thanmany at the time acknowledged. See Thomas Frank,The Conquest ofCool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997).

http://blog.gmfus.org/2013/09/11/germanys-leadership-question-on-the-eve-of-elections/http://blog.gmfus.org/2013/09/11/germanys-leadership-question-on-the-eve-of-elections/http://blog.gmfus.org/2013/09/11/germanys-leadership-question-on-the-eve-of-elections/http://blog.gmfus.org/2013/09/11/germanys-leadership-question-on-the-eve-of-elections/


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T G M F U S2

or profound shifts in practices.4

Under thismodel, leadership may thus be defined as “anattempt at influencing the activities of followersthrough the communication process toward theattainment of some goal,”5 a process that involves“articulating visions, embodying values, andcreating the environment within which things canbe accomplished.”6 Leadership, in short, must entailcollaborative action with the ambition of generatingpolitical, social, or economic change at the mostfundamental level. The case studies profiled hereoffer examples in which efforts to articulate a

common vision led to transformational action. Thisstyle of transformational leadership — as opposedto those that rely on coercion or persuasion —offers leaders the greatest opportunity to findcommon ground despite cultural, geographical, andpolitical differences.

Utilizing this definition of transformationalleadership, we examine five case studieshighlighting leaders that are driving types of changethat may prove instructive to those facing similarchallenges. Each case study shines a spotlight on a

different Atlantic continent and sector, highlightingthe different types of actors that are drivinginnovation on the ground.

We begin at the local level with the city of Bilbaoin Spain. Bilbao offers one of the most remarkable

4 For comprehensive overviews of the development of leadership theoryand explanations of paradigm shifts, see, for example, Bernard Bass, ANew Paradigm of Leadership: An Inquiry into Transformational Leadership (Alexandria, VA: U.S. Army Institute for Behavioral & Social Sciences,1996); Richard Bolden, Jonathan Gosling, A. Marturano, and P. Dennison, A Review of Leadership Theory And Competency Frameworks(Exeter, UK:Centre for Leadership Studies, University of Exeter, 2003); Gary Yukl,

Leadership in Organizations, 4th ed., (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall,2003); James Kouzes and Barry Posner,The Leadership Challenge, 4th ed.,(San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, 2007).

5 James Gibson, John Ivancevich, and James Donnelly,Organizations:Behavior, Structure, Processes, 5th ed. (Plano, TX: Business PublicationsInc., 1985), 362.

6 Richards and Engle,Transforming Leadership (Virginia: Miles RiverPress, 1986), 206.

examples of public-public partnership — defineas the formal collaboration of public agencies frdifferent levels of government — in recent timesThe culmination of these partnerships led to theconstruction of the now internationally renowneGuggenheim Museum. We then shift across theAtlantic to Detroit, a city facing a similar post-industrial crisis that is finding its way forwardthrough unique public-civic-private partnershipsMoving from the local to the national levels, wenext travel south to Latin America, where theColombian government’s Plan Colombia highlig

the creative use of federal power to achieve poligoals on a range of fronts simultaneously. We themove back across the Atlantic to another nationacase study offered by Rwanda. In response to thegenocide that devastated the country in the 1990Rwandan women have embraced political authoand reshaped the governmental and policyinfrastructure — highlighting the importanceof political collaboration and planning acrossgovernment levels. We conclude by shifting fromthe national to the regional level, moving northto examine the central role Morocco is playing iconsolidating a North African regional identity.Transformational leadership has proven the key effecting change in all of these examples.

From the local to the regional, from the Americato Africa to Europe, all of these case studies offetheir own sets of lessons learned. Taken togetherthese lessons may be distilled into instructiveinsights centered on the following three core civcompetencies: 1) the value of seizing opportunitwhen presented, especially during times of crisitragedy, or transition; 2) the power of assemblinambitious alliances; and 3) the importance ofbuilding sustainable pipelines to ensure policieshave widespread support. In the locations fromaround the Atlantic profiled here, leaders open tnew ideas have formed coalitions of unprecedenscale and built sustainable pipelines, which toge

Leadership, in short,ust entail collaborativetion with the ambitionof generating political,

social, or economicchange at the most

fundamental level.


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have paved a road for innovative policy solutionsto be implemented. This has led, across all casestudies, to the rise of greater equity and inclusion,instances of profound social and/or politicalchange, and new periods of economic growth

and stability. Leaders with the ambition to meetchallenges shaping the 21st century might do well totake heed of the strategies and tactics employed inBilbao, Detroit, Colombia, Rwanda, and Morocco.


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T G M F U S4

Leading Urban Transformation through Public-Public Partnerships: Bilbao

T he city of Bilbao exemplifies transformationalleadership. The capital of Bizkaia Province inthe autonomous Basque region of NorthernSpain, Bilbao became a prosperous port city inthe 14th century, but like many industrial citiesfaced rapid decline by the mid-20th century. InAugust 1983, after years of neglect and degradationas its heavy industrial base eroded, floods sweptthrough the downtown historic district. Citizensfelt overcome by urban chaos — many, accordingto the managing director of the Bilbao CityCouncil, Andoni Aldekoa, felt the city had “hitrock bottom.”7 Public reaction spurred local Basqueleaders to come together to draft a strategic plan tomodernize wider metropolitan Bilbao, includingsurrounding towns. Twenty years later, the planhas resulted in the area’s reemergence as a culturaland innovation capital, most famously symbolizedby its ability to attract the Guggenheim Museum,which opened in 1997. Bilbao’s path from post-industrial decay to paradigm of 21st century urbanrevitalization highlights the powerful leadershiprole local and regional government actors canplay in building cross-sector consensus and inmobilizing change.

Bilbao’s strategic plan emphasized the renewal ofphysical space through the recovery of territorylost to industrial decay; economic diversification,shifting from an industrial to a creative andknowledge-based economy; the modernizationof industry; and the improvement of humanresources. A coalition of public leaders cametogether to implement the plan. “One of the mostsignificant elements of the transformation of Bilbaois the institutional shared leadership,” Aldekoaargues.8 The government of Spain, the regional7 Andoni Aldekoa (Managing Director, Bilbao City Council), interviewby Megan K. Doherty, December 9, 2014.

8 Ibid.

government of the Basque Country, BizkaiaProvincial Government, and the government ofBilbao joined to create Bilbao Ría 2000, an urbaredevelopment authority. Bilbao Ría 2000 ledthe transformation by integrating major publiccompanies in the country responsible for largeinfrastructure elements such as railways andthe port. Each institution involved in Bilbao Ríaalso developed its own transformation plans inpartnership with the umbrella institution. Theland on which the Guggenheim was built, forexample, was a former industrial site owned

by the Port Authority and the Spanish RailwayCompany, which became a new urban area namAbandoibarra, one of the key sites of renewalstimulated through the action of Bilbao Ría 200

Sound financial planning and public managemenwere key in the success of Bilbao’s public-publipartnerships. Economic resources also provedcrucial in enabling Bilbao to realize its plans.Given the Basque Country’s capacity to regulateand manage a significant portion of the region’slevied taxes, combined with the industrial base

that did survive the economic downturn, financisolvency has allowed Bilbao to match vision witreal political and institutional power. Bilbao’stransformation was also implemented with highlevels of public accountability and transparency,with low debt levels and no current bank loans aof 2015. These attributes led Bilbao to be awardthe European Public Administration Award in 20(EPSA) for the best public management in Euro9

Political and institutional leadership eventually lto buy-in from the community itself. At first, new

proposed projects were met by resistance. TheGuggenheim project, for example, was opposed entrepreneurs, unions, average citizens, and eventhe artistic community. As projects materialized

9 For more information on the European Public Administration Awaseehttp://www.epsa2013.eu/.

C S2

Bilbao Ría 2000 ledthe transformation

by integrating majorpublic companies in

he country responsiblefor large infrastructure

elements such asrailways and the

port. Each institutioninvolved in Bilbao Ría

also developed its owntransformation plans

n partnership with theumbrella institution.

http://www.epsa2013.eu/http://www.epsa2013.eu/


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While Detroit cannot yet boast Bilbao’striumphant narrative oa complete shift in andrevival of its economibase, the city’s path

to solvency highlightsan instructive exampleof transformationalleadership leading toa bold new civic-publipartnership.

and became successful, however, public supportfollowed. As new public infrastructure such asthe Metro system were proposed and built —improving the quality of life — renewed confidencein Bilbao’s future began to drive further innovation.“That trust and that social support is what hassucceeded to accelerate the transformation anddragged the private sectors to it,” Andoni shares.10 Bilbao Ría 2000 — which will soon disband becauseits goals have been realized — has effectivelybenefited from widespread support that, in turn,generate regularly renewed leadership pipelines that

ensure reforms are carried forward by incominggenerations of officials. Public, private, and civicenergy now combine to attract new investmentand tourism to Bilbao, making it a model for citiesaround the world.

Keys to Success

• Long-term vision: the ability to envision long-term change and integrate this with urban,economic, and social planning.

• Partnership: the ability to build consensus

between institutions and political parties, andto keep them motivated and united duringtimes of disagreement and conflict.

• Good governance: public accountability,moderate indebtedness levels, and high levelsof transparency.

Leading Urban Transformation through Civic-Public Partnerships: Detroit

Like Bilbao, the Midwestern U.S. city ofDetroit, Michigan, shifted from an automobilemanufacturing and exporting powerhouse in theearly 20th century to post-industrial blight justdecades later. Yet where public-public partnershipsdrove renewal in Bilbao, Detroit has recently gainedworldwide attention for what has been described as

10 Aldekoa.

one of the most ambitious public-civic partnershipsin history. On July 18, 2013, the city of Detroit filedfor Chapter 9 Bankruptcy, the largest municipalfiling in U.S. history. Sixteen months later, apublic-civic coalition — including retired cityworkers, major philanthropic foundations, the stategovernment, and the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA)— came together to form “the grand bargain,”pledging millions of dollars to move Detroit out ofthe red. On December 12, 2014, Detroit officiallymoved out of bankruptcy. While Detroit cannot yetboast Bilbao’s triumphant narrative of a complete

shift in and revival of its economic base, the city’spath to solvency highlights an instructive exampleof transformational leadership leading to a boldnew civic-public partnership.

Detroit’s decline from the mid-20th centuryonwards mirrored that of many U.S. cities. Thecity exploded in the early 20th century with the riseof the U.S. auto industry, but as the United Stateseconomy became increasingly deindustrializedafter World War II, manufacturing jobs that hadsustained Detroit were exported elsewhere. This

period coincided with post-war housing andmortgage policies that accelerated segregation,leading to “white flight” as a rising, usually white,middle class used their newly acquired cars to leavefor houses in the suburbs, subsidized by new federalmortgage schemes. This left poorer groups —predominately African-American — concentratedin the city center. Many businesses followed theirwhite collar workforces to the suburbs, furtherdepleting Detroit’s economic base. As Detroit’spopulation dwindled, so too did its tax base, leavinglittle income to support basic municipal servicessuch as garbage pick-up and sanitation.11 With$18 billion in debts, degraded city services, andmounting annual deficits, Detroit could barely paycity retirees’ pensions.

11 Thomas Sugrue,The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality inPostwar Detroit (Princeton, NJ: Pr inceton University Press, 1996).


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It was theunprecedented “grand

bargain” betweenthe state and local

governments, citizens,and philanthropic

foundations thatdelivered Detroit from

bankruptcy.

For decades, the business and civic communityhad led concerted efforts to revive Detroit. TheRenaissance Center, financed by the Ford MotorCompany, was at the time the world’s largestprivate development, and in 1977 aimed to givethe city its “rebirth.” In recent years, companiessuch as Quicken Loans, General Motors, and retailoutlets such as Whole Foods and Little CaesarsPizza have made concerted efforts to invest indowntown — as have many middle class residents,many of whom are members of the creativeclass who have returned to live in the city. These

efforts were undergirded by civic organizationsthat invested in Detroit’s recovery. This includedbuilding the community’s vision and capacity forrecovery, which complemented and often bolsteredbusiness investments. Together, this activity hasgiven the city an entrepreneurial and creativebuzz perhaps epitomized by companies such asShinola that are becoming globally recognizedand celebrated brands.12 Some have criticizedthis as mere gentrification of certain sectionsof Downtown and Midtown.13 Yet regardless ofone’s stance, such investment had not provenpivotal enough to trigger Detroit’s recovery, andthe city filed bankruptcy. In a dramatic move thatmade headlines nationwide, creditors suggestedseizing the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), with itsrespected collection of works by van Gogh, Matisse,and others.

It was the unprecedented “grand bargain” betweenthe state and local governments, citizens, andphilanthropic foundations that delivered Detroit

12 Aiden Lewis, “The Branding of a Bankrupt City,”BBC News Magazine,

January 20, 2014,http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25509923.13 Thomas Sugrue has been a particularly vocal critic. See John Galla-gher, “Sugrue: Trickle Down Urbanism Won’t Work in Detroit,”DetroitFree Press, February 23, 2014,http://archive.freep.com/article/20140223/OPINION05/302230041/Thomas-Sugrue-Gallagher-Detroit-bankruptcy-future-city. See also Ashley Woods, “Detroit Doesn’t Need Hipsters toSurvive, It Needs Black People,”Huffington Post , March 10, 2014, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/saving-detroit-thomas-sugrue-hipsters_n_4905125.html.

from bankruptcy. In this deal, foundations,the state, and the DIA have pledged a total of$816 million dollars to bolster the state pensionsystem and give the DIA’s art collection new,bankruptcy-proof ownership. Perhaps moststriking was the buy-in of the foundation sector.The concept of saving a bankrupt city was foreigto most foundation boards, yet in a series ofclosed-door meetings and dinners over severalmonths, foundation leaders agreed to join thestate government in a coalition to save the city.The Ford Foundation pledged $125 million, the

Knight Foundation $30 million, and the KresgeFoundation, which is based in Michigan, $100million; in addition, nine other foundations havepledged sums.14 Joel L. Fleishman, professor of laand public policy at Duke University and an expon non-profit groups has argued, “In terms offoundation giving, there is nothing comparable tthe scale or purpose.”15 Retired general municipalworkers met the philanthropic groups halfway anaccepted 4.5 percent cuts to their monthly checkan end to cost-of-living increases, higher healthcare costs, and a mandatory forfeiture of previoupayments that were deemed improper. Retiredfirefighters and police officers accepted smaller

14 Nathan Bomey, John Gallagher, and Mark Stryker, “Detroit Bank-

ruptcy: The Cast of Characters,”Detroit Free Press, November 9, 2014, http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/detroit-bankruptcy/2014/11/detroit-bankruptcy-judges-governor-mayor-orr/18720875/. Majorphilanthropic donors include the Community Foundation of SoutheasMichigan, the Knight Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, the Ford Fdation, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

15 Quoted in Monica Davey, “Finding $816 Million, and Fast, to SavDetroit,”The New York Times, November 7, 2014,http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/us/finding-816-million-and-fast-to-save-detroit.htm.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25509923http://archive.freep.com/article/20140223/OPINION05/302230041/Thomas-Sugrue-Gallagher-Detroit-bankruptcy-future-cityhttp://archive.freep.com/article/20140223/OPINION05/302230041/Thomas-Sugrue-Gallagher-Detroit-bankruptcy-future-cityhttp://archive.freep.com/article/20140223/OPINION05/302230041/Thomas-Sugrue-Gallagher-Detroit-bankruptcy-future-cityhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/saving-detroit-thomas-sugrue-hipsters_n_4905125.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/saving-detroit-thomas-sugrue-hipsters_n_4905125.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/saving-detroit-thomas-sugrue-hipsters_n_4905125.htmlhttp://www.freep.com/story/news/local/detroit-bankruptcy/2014/11/09/detroit-bankruptcy-judges-governor-mayor-orr/18720875/http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/detroit-bankruptcy/2014/11/09/detroit-bankruptcy-judges-governor-mayor-orr/18720875/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/us/finding-816-million-and-fast-to-save-detroit.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/us/finding-816-million-and-fast-to-save-detroit.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/us/finding-816-million-and-fast-to-save-detroit.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/08/us/finding-816-million-and-fast-to-save-detroit.htmlhttp://www.freep.com/story/news/local/detroit-bankruptcy/2014/11/09/detroit-bankruptcy-judges-governor-mayor-orr/18720875/http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/detroit-bankruptcy/2014/11/09/detroit-bankruptcy-judges-governor-mayor-orr/18720875/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/saving-detroit-thomas-sugrue-hipsters_n_4905125.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/saving-detroit-thomas-sugrue-hipsters_n_4905125.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/saving-detroit-thomas-sugrue-hipsters_n_4905125.htmlhttp://archive.freep.com/article/20140223/OPINION05/302230041/Thomas-Sugrue-Gallagher-Detroit-bankruptcy-future-cityhttp://archive.freep.com/article/20140223/OPINION05/302230041/Thomas-Sugrue-Gallagher-Detroit-bankruptcy-future-cityhttp://archive.freep.com/article/20140223/OPINION05/302230041/Thomas-Sugrue-Gallagher-Detroit-bankruptcy-future-cityhttp://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25509923


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reductions.16

Judge Rhodes of the U.S. BankruptcyCourt of Eastern Michigan, who delivered the verdict on initial bankruptcy ruling, said thatDetroit’s grand bargain bordered on “miraculous.”17

A key factor driving Detroit’s grand bargain andthe unprecedented philanthropic investment is thedeep sense of civic engagement of both the city’scitizens and its civic institutions. The devastatingprospect of long-serving municipal workers facingretirement without pensions, and the idea of losingthe city’s storied art collection to auction, proved a

regular theme and rallying cry in the Detroit pressand on social media. The three biggest foundationsto participate in the grand bargain, moreover —Kresge, Ford, and Knight Foundations — all tracetheir roots to Detroit and have expressed a senseof civic duty. Foundations such as Kresge are alsoinvesting to create pipelines to ensure that Detroit’snext generation of leaders is invested in the city’srecovery and connected to global investors andtrends.

For all that the grand bargain has done, Detroit’sfuture still remains to be charted. The bargainrests on the assumption that the city will again besolvent — the state government will contributeto the scheme until 2023, and foundations until2033 — but the Detroit Future City plan proposes awholescale re-envisioning of the city’s environment

16 Detroit’s pension fund for general city workers, now said to be 74percent funded, is scheduled to go into a controlled decline to just 65percent by 2043; the police and firefighters’ fund will slide to 78 percentfrom 87 percent. After that, the city’s contributions are scheduled to come

roaring back, bringing the plan up to 100 percent funding by 2053. Thiswill work, of course, as long as the city has recovered sufficiently by then.The state’s contribution to the grand bargain lasts until 2023, with thefoundations and the art museum continuing to kick in until 2033. SeeMary Williams Walsh, “Detroit Emerges from Bankruptcy, Yet PensionRisks Linger,”The New York Times, November 11, 2014,http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/detroit-emerges-from-bankruptcy-pension-risk-still-intact/.

17 Walsh.

and infrastructure.18

Moreover, a sometimesuncomfortable dichotomy exists betweennew and legacy residents, as well as betweenthe city’s downtown core and its surroundingneighborhoods. Many argue that the city’s ability tomanage such tensions in a responsible and inclusiveway will determine whether or not Detroit’srecovery will prove stable and ongoing. Regardless,the bold civic alliance that has produced the grandbargain provides a leadership model to other citiesfacing large scale challenges.

Keys to Success

• Cross-cutting partnerships: Thepartnerships across the governmental, civic,and philanthropic sectors produced anunprecedented grand bargain.

• Relationships matter: These cross-cuttingpartnerships are held together by a networkof relationships that allowed the deal to bebrokered behind closed doors.

• Civic pride: The scale of this crisis hasprovoked extensive public outcry, andfurther motivation for political, union, andphilanthropic leaders to broker a solution.

A Case Study in National Leadership:Plan Colombia

Unprecedented, bold alliances that cross sectorsof society have also been pursued in Colombia,which has led to significant progress in theresolution of what had previously seemed to beintractable problems. Since the early 1990s, leaders18 The Detroit Future City plan — started by a mayoral taskforce andimplemented by the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, whichreceives funding from Kresge — proposes to remake the city’s urbanplan by reorganizing the people who live in Detroit, consolidating thepopulation on certain city lots, allowing other sections to convert to greenspace, and reorganizing municipal services accordingly. Yet even with thisstrategic framework now established — which some criticize as takingtoo local a view of Detroit’s economic future, instead of a regional view,further perpetuating socioeconomic divisions — it now remains to beseen whether and how this plan will be implemented.

A key factor drivingDetroit’s grand bargaiand the unprecedentedphilanthropicinvestment is thedeep sense of civic

engagement of both thcity’s citizens and itscivic institutions.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/detroit-emerges-from-bankruptcy-pension-risk-still-intact/http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/detroit-emerges-from-bankruptcy-pension-risk-still-intact/http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/detroit-emerges-from-bankruptcy-pension-risk-still-intact/http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/detroit-emerges-from-bankruptcy-pension-risk-still-intact/http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/detroit-emerges-from-bankruptcy-pension-risk-still-intact/http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/detroit-emerges-from-bankruptcy-pension-risk-still-intact/


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T G M F U S8

The “Marshall Plan forColombia” aimed to

solve the underlyingcauses of the internal

vil war by making long-rm investments in the

social sector.

debated within Colombian political circles howto address the FARC guerrillas (Fuerzas ArmadasRevolucionarias de Colombia, or RevolutionaryArmed Forces of Colombia), and the violencethat had spread across the country. By the late1990s, thousands of Colombians were being killedannually by both the FARC and by governmentforces in what had become a bloody civil war. Bythe mid-1990s, it had become clear that Colombia’smilitary solution — heavily supported by theUnited States and other allies — was insufficientat defeating the FARC and was not contributing

to bringing the guerillas to the negotiating table.In the late 1990s, a bold new vision — a “MarshallPlan for Colombia” — was proposed by AndrésPastrana, then a presidential candidate.

The “Marshall Plan for Colombia” aimed to solvethe underlying causes of the internal civil warby making long-term investments in the socialsector.19 Pastrana proposed an approach thatwould not only apply military and law enforcementmeasures to combat the violence and eliminatethe most radical elements of the FARC, but would

also invest heavily in the social areas that FARCleaders felt had been neglected by the centralgovernment. Pastrana successfully campaigned onthe concept, claiming that it would help bring peaceto the country. Once elected, he moved quickly tobring together national and local political leadersto develop what became known as the “Plan forColombia’s Peace.” The plan sought to create “aset of alternative development projects, whichwill channel the shared efforts of multilateralorganizations and [foreign] governments towardsColombian society.”20 Recognizing that the warwith the FARC was primarily a symptom of theeconomic inequality in Colombia and the inabilityof local farmers to grow anything of value other

19 Andrés Pastrana and Camilo Gómez,La Palabra Bajo Fuego . (Bogotá:Editorial Planeta Colombiana S.A., 2005), 48-51.

20 Pastrana and Gómez, 48-51.

than illicit drugs, the original “Plan Colombia”called for heavy investments in social justice,political reconciliation, retraining farmers, andre-tooling the agricultural sector to focus on crothat did not contribute to drug trafficking. The pwas developed by the Colombian government juas peace talks with FARC guerrilla leaders weregetting underway.

Domestic success led Colombian leaders to seeksupport outside the country, further solidifyingits broad coalition. By 2000, Colombia shared it

plan with the United States, which supported itas the blueprint for the provision of military andhumanitarian assistance. Once the United Statesagreed, Colombia’s other donors — primarily theEuropean Union, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank — also agreed. ThUnited States alone has provided more than $3.5billion to Colombia to fund the plan since 2001. 2002, Colombia had successfully channeled foreassistance — both security and humanitarian —into one plan that would span more than a decadAlthough there continue to be disagreements

about the right mix of tools that are being used timplement Plan Colombia, both within Colombiand by its donors, Plan Colombia illustrates thenecessity of being open to new ideas and forginglarge-scale alliances to implement them.

Keys to Success

• Develop cross-cutting solutions: Peace talkswith the FARC guerillas, backed up by a plato address economic development and creatmore inclusive future helped create a politicatmosphere that eventually resulted in asignificant reduction in the violence.

• Incorporate different political views:Development of the plan aligned politicalparties not for one or two presidentialterms, but for the long term. Though formerPresident Álvaro Uribe was sometimes


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T L 9

While institutional and social chaos reignedin the aftermath ofthe genocide, women

stepped into the powevacuum and created

momentum to formulaand implement a serieof reforms that havereshaped Rwanda’sconstitution andeconomic structures.

criticized for being too militaristic, and theapproaches varied in different administrations,the plan attracted the support of liberal,conservative, and centrist parties that signedon to it and supported its implementationacross successive administrations.21

• Engage key stakeholders early: Beginningwith Pastrana, local leaders and mayors acrossColombia were invited to join in developingthe plan. Within a few years, once internalagreement had been reached, Colombia

presented the plan to key donors to gain theirbuy-in and support.

A (Demographic) Revolution in NationalLeadership: Rwanda’s Female Political Leaders

Rwanda has experienced one of the most dramaticupheavals in social and political structure of anynation in the past quarter century. Just 20 yearsago, women could not own or inherit property,could not pass citizenship to their children, andwere underrepresented politically. Today, womencomprise 64 percent of parliamentarians; half of thecountry’s Supreme Court Justices are women; boysand girls attend compulsory primary and secondaryschool in equal numbers; women are permitted touse their husbands’ assets as collateral for loans;and government-backed funds offer resourcesto female entrepreneurs with no other access tocapital. 22 The trigger for this massive reform isthe result of tragedy rather than vision. Over the

21 Uribe, who followed Pastrana in 2002, continued with the plan andhanded it off to his successor in 2010, President Juan Manuel Santos.While specific differences regarding implementation of certain aspects

of the plan existed across administrations, political party platforms haveincorporated Plan Colombia consistently since Pastrana’s administrationand have recognized it as a political reality.

22 In 2000, Rwanda ranked 37th in the world for women’s representa-tion in an elected lower house of parliament; today it ranks first. SeeSwanee Hunt, “The Rise of Rwanda’s Women: Rebuilding and Reunitinga Nation,”Foreign Affairs, Vol. 93, No. 3 (May/June 2014), 150-157,http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141075/swanee-hunt/the-rise-of-rwandas-women.

course of 100 days between April and July 1994, anestimated 800,000 Rwandans of Tutsi descent, alongwith some moderate Hutu — 20 percent of thepopulation — were slaughtered by other Rwandans,largely of Hutu descent. The conflict was declareda genocide. The population that was left behindin the decimated country was 70 percent female,thousands of whom had been subjected to rapeduring the conflict.

While institutional and social chaos reigned inthe aftermath of the genocide, women stepped

into the power vacuum and created momentum toformulate and implement a series of reforms thathave reshaped Rwanda’s constitution and economicstructures. Adopted under the auspices of PresidentPaul Kagame, the reforms, which are ongoing,aim to define and strengthen the human rightsof all citizens and to create pipelines to power forpreviously marginalized voices. Kagame openlyencourages women to pursue their ambitions. Hehas appointed women to top leadership positions,and when the constitution was rewritten andsuccessfully passed by popular referendum in 2003,

it included a requirement that at least 30 percent ofparliamentarians be women.23 As a result, womencurrently comprise almost 64 percent of the lowerhouse and 38 percent of the upper house of thelegislature.24 Women appointed to leadership rolesinclude Aloisea Inyumba as minister of genderand family promotion, Rose Kabuye as mayor ofKigali, Christine Umutoni as deputy minister ofrehabilitation and social integration, and LouiseMushikiwabo as foreign affairs minister. Theseand other newly elected women have pursued anumber of reforms. At the grassroots level, forexample, traditional mothering duties have beenparlayed into care for homeless and orphanedchildren, support for widows, and female-led

23 Ibid.

24 Inter Parliamentary Union, “Women in National Parliaments,”November 1, 2014,http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/arc/world011114.htm.

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141075/swanee-hunt/the-rise-of-rwandas-womenhttp://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141075/swanee-hunt/the-rise-of-rwandas-womenhttp://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/arc/world011114.htmhttp://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/arc/world011114.htmhttp://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141075/swanee-hunt/the-rise-of-rwandas-womenhttp://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141075/swanee-hunt/the-rise-of-rwandas-women


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T G M F U S10

The most decisiveand striking reforms

undertaken byRwanda’s political

leaders have aimedto recast political

structures themselves.

management of formerly male-dominated fieldssuch as construction. Reforms like these, alongsidethe introduction of stimulus programs such as seedloans for women to start small businesses, havehelped the population rebuild itself economically.GDP growth reached an impressive 7.45 percent in2014.25

The most decisive and striking reforms undertakenby Rwanda’s political leaders have aimed to recastpolitical structures themselves. For example, pre-genocide village councils had not allowed women

to serve at all. As a counter-balance, Inyumba ledthe formation of a separate five-tiered system ofwomen’s councils to address policy issues that affectwomen, from education and health to personalsecurity. The latter remains a crucial issue, not onlydue to continued repercussions from the rampantsexual violence many women suffered during thegenocide, but because a significant portion ofthe population reports they have been raped inrecent times, usually women at the hands of theirhusbands.26 Further exemplifying the visionaryand strategic mindset of Rwanda’s female leaders,

in 2003 the women’s caucus in Parliament deviseda plan to expand their ranks. Senior women leftparliamentary seats that were now earmarked forwomen following the passage of the new quota lawin order to contest men in seats open to all partymembers. Women from local levels of politics andgrassroots activism were encouraged to run forthese new “women-only” quota-protected seats.Female representation rose to 56 percent in 2008,then to 64 percent in 2013 because of these efforts,

25 World Bank,Global Economic Prospects: Sub Saharan Africa (Wash-

ington, DC: World Bank, June 2014),http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/GEP/GEP2014b/GEP2014b_SSA.pdf.

26 See Human Rights Watch,Shattered Lives: Sexual Violence duringthe Rwandan Genocide and Its Aftermath , Human Rights Watch Report,September 1996,http://www.hrw.org/reports/1996/Rwanda.htm; andAndrea Phelps, “Gender-Based War Crimes: Incidence and Effec tive-ness of International Criminal Prosecution,”William & Mary Journal ofWomen and the Law , Vol. 12, No. 2 (2006), 499—520,http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1114&context=wmjowl.

combined with the voting power of a now-majorfemale electorate. Powerful leadership pipelineshave not only granted more women political powbut this in turn is reshaping the ethos of the natioitself. “It’s no longer a question of quota insuringanything in the culture,” said Louise Mushikiwabminister for foreign affairs and cooperation. “It ithe culture now.”27

This rapid progressive reform has also beenmet with a fair share of criticism. Many criticizeKagame, arguing that he has merely embraced

demographic realities to further his authoritarianruling style and garner support for his widerambitions across the region.28 Others point out thathe rise of women to leadership roles has spreadprivilege mostly among the educated classes, anthat attention must be paid to the women who stilive in poverty, that the reforms at the top have nyet trickled down to the grassroots level. Rwandstill a developing nation facing economic hurdleand is ranked as the 167th poorest out of 182countries.29 Yet despite these criticisms, Rwanda’recent track record remains remarkable. Partly

due to efforts by non-profits such as the Institutefor Inclusive Security and other allied NGOs,delegations interested in gleaning leadership lessare beginning to tour the country. Leaders arounthe world are eagerly watching Rwanda to learnwhat the country’s new female leadership cohorwill achieve next.

27 Louise Mushikiwabo as quoted by Swanee Hunt in Nina Strochlic“Two Decades After Genocide, Rwanda’s Women Have Made the Na

Thrive,”The Daily Beast , April 2, 2014,http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/02/two-decades-after-genocide-rwanda-s-women-hmade-the-nation-thrive.html.

28 See, for example, “Rwanda’s Untold Story,” produced and directedJohn Conroy, aired on BBC Two, October 1, 2014, http://www.bbc.co.ukprogrammes/b04kk03t.

29 United Nations Development Program (UNDP), “Human Development Report” (2009)http://hdr.undp.org/en/2014-report.

http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/GEP/GEP2014b/GEP2014b_SSA.pdfhttp://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/GEP/GEP2014b/GEP2014b_SSA.pdfhttp://www.hrw.org/reports/1996/Rwanda.htmhttp://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1114&context=wmjowlhttp://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1114&context=wmjowlhttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/02/two-decades-after-genocide-rwanda-s-women-have-made-the-nation-thrive.htmlhttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/02/two-decades-after-genocide-rwanda-s-women-have-made-the-nation-thrive.htmlhttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/02/two-decades-after-genocide-rwanda-s-women-have-made-the-nation-thrive.htmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04kk03thttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04kk03thttp://hdr.undp.org/en/2014-reporthttp://hdr.undp.org/en/2014-reporthttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04kk03thttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04kk03thttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/02/two-decades-after-genocide-rwanda-s-women-have-made-the-nation-thrive.htmlhttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/02/two-decades-after-genocide-rwanda-s-women-have-made-the-nation-thrive.htmlhttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/02/two-decades-after-genocide-rwanda-s-women-have-made-the-nation-thrive.htmlhttp://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1114&context=wmjowlhttp://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1114&context=wmjowlhttp://www.hrw.org/reports/1996/Rwanda.htmhttp://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/GEP/GEP2014b/GEP2014b_SSA.pdfhttp://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/GEP/GEP2014b/GEP2014b_SSA.pdf


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Keys to Success

• Tragedy was met with bold vision: Rwanda’sfemale leaders describe an acute awareness ofthe uniqueness of their circumstances, and thatthey felt a window of opportunity existed thatcalled for bold action.

• Build leadership pipelines: Rwandan femaleleaders at the highest levels are using theirauthority to help create pipelines to ensure thatmore junior women hold positions of influence— further consolidating the power of the entire

group.• Recognition and response to the reality of

demographic change: Rwanda’s female leaders— and Kagame — argue they have met theimperatives of the demographic realities theyface. While this may seem inevitable given thescale of the gender imbalance in Rwanda, manyother nations facing wide-scale demographicchange are moving far less nimbly, furtherunderscoring Rwanda’s achievement.

Defining a New Regional Identity: MoroccoMorocco, perhaps more than any nation in theAtlantic Basin, demonstrates unique leadershipcompetency in defining a new regional identityand in leading regional agendas. During thepast decade, as the Arab Spring swept throughthe Middle East and North Africa, Morocco hasinvested in next-generation leadership developmentand looked abroad to forge trade and intellectualties that transcend regional turmoil.30 Long acrossroads between cultures and continents,Morocco stands to gain in the 21st century from itsunique geographical position and ability to connectpeople and expand markets. Moroccan leaders

30 For example, the OCP Policy Center, a co-publisher of this paper,pursues cross-national analysis that strives to link the wider region. Formore information, see the OCP Policy Center website,http://www.ocppc.ma/.

increasingly are working across sectors to identifyshared goals for growth, exercising diplomaticskill and communications savvy to gain buy-inboth inside Morocco and beyond. Leveraging theresources of its prosperous phosphate industry,which accounts for 75 percent of the world’sphosphate reserves, Morocco has invested in othersectors such as agriculture as well as in buildingboth trade and intellectual links across the NorthAfrican region and Atlantic Basin. Moroccanleaders are engaged across sectors in reframingtheir country’s prime location as an asset, given its

strategic access to both the Mediterranean and theAtlantic, as well as a gateway position to Africa.

Leaders in Morocco — principally from thebusiness and intellectual sectors, with crucialsupport from the crown — are using the power ofcapital and analytical savvy to capitalize on theircountry’s geography and resources. Like Turkey,which has grown to be a regional power partly bypositioning itself as a gateway country, Moroccostands at the nexus of different regions and traderoutes. Morocco also serves as a bridge to Europe

— in its case from Africa, where rapid demographicchange, increasing investment in infrastructure,and an abundance of arable land suggest astrengthened international role in the future.Moroccan thought leaders from across sectors areseeking to reframe the Atlantic identity, shifting itfrom a U.S.-European axis to a wider Atlantic visionconnecting southern as well as northern partners.31 The German Marshall Fund, OCP Policy Center,and other organizations have partnered in manyof these efforts, working to forge links around thewider Atlantic Basin at conferences such as TheAtlantic Dialogues32 and other outreach efforts.31 See, for example, Ian Lesser, Geoffrey Kemp, Emiliano Alessandri, andS. Enders Wimbush, Morocco’s New Geopolitics: A Wider Atlantic Agenda (German Marshall Fund and OCP Foundation, February 10, 2012),http://www.gmfus.org/publications/moroccos-new-geopolitics-wider-atlantic-perspective .

32 http://www.atlanticdialogues.org/.

Moroccan leaders areengaged across sectorin reframing theircountry’s prime locatias an asset, given its

strategic access to bot

the Mediterranean andthe Atlantic, as well aa gateway position to

Africa.

http://www.ocppc.ma/http://www.ocppc.ma/http://www.gmfus.org/publications/moroccos-new-geopolitics-wider-atlantic-perspectivehttp://www.gmfus.org/publications/moroccos-new-geopolitics-wider-atlantic-perspectivehttp://www.gmfus.org/publications/moroccos-new-geopolitics-wider-atlantic-perspectivehttp://www.atlanticdialogues.org/http://www.atlanticdialogues.org/http://www.gmfus.org/publications/moroccos-new-geopolitics-wider-atlantic-perspectivehttp://www.gmfus.org/publications/moroccos-new-geopolitics-wider-atlantic-perspectivehttp://www.gmfus.org/publications/moroccos-new-geopolitics-wider-atlantic-perspectivehttp://www.ocppc.ma/http://www.ocppc.ma/


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T G M F U S12

Morocco’s successin defining and then

embodying a newregional identity is

evident in the robustgrowth of its business

sector.

Central to the Moroccan articulation of a regionalrole is flexibility, which has proven crucial toenabling Moroccan leaders to negotiate in andaround regional groupings that sometimes provemore conservative and less dynamic. Flexibilityin regional imagination is also practical becausesome official groupings remain sclerotic. Forexample, the Arab Maghreb Union is hobbledby political disagreement despite internationalinterest in seeing it function well.33 Likewise,Morocco withdrew from the African Union forpolitical reasons in 1984, which has allowed it

to remain flexible and contribute to Africa-widedebates through other mechanisms. Given the fiscalstability Morocco envisions34 — the governmentaims to achieve a budget deficit of no more than3 percent of GDP by 2017 — it is strategic forMorocco to conceptualize and to join in geographicframeworks that allow for accelerated growth andinnovation. Moroccan leaders have managed toskirt the pitfalls of courting contentious groupswhile contributing positively to other regionalalliances. For example, Morocco belongs to andhelps shape the agendas of several more formalregional groupings. One such grouping, foundedin 2008, is the Union for the Mediterranean,which “aims to enhance regional cooperationand partnership between the two shores of theMediterranean.”35 Among other things, this unionengages in leadership development throughinitiatives such as its project in coordination withMorocco to advance women’s leadership and

33 Michele Bigoni, “The Union of the Arab Maghreb and Regional

Integration: Challenges and Prospects,” European ParliamentaryResearch Service, January 16, 2014, http://epthinktank.eu/2014/01/16/the-union-of-the-arab-maghreb-and-regional-integration-challenges-and-prospects/.

34 World Bank Country Overview: Morocco, http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/morocco/overview#3.

35 Union for the Mediterranean Secretariat, “Objectives,”http://ufmsec-retariat.org/objectives/.

entrepreneurship.36

With this flexible approach, aits commitment to building sustainable leadershipipelines, Morocco continues to expand its globaties, including through diaspora populations.

Morocco’s success in defining and then embodya new regional identity is evident in the robustgrowth of its business sector. While Moroccocontinues to carry a heavy debt load, a stableeconomy marked by steady growth is helping toreshape the country. Economic growth last year 3 percent and is on track to be 4.6 percent this y

While not a large increase, this amount of growtis still substantially higher than regional estimat37— suggesting the country’s openness to newideas and efforts to forge regional ties is yieldingtangible results. The U.S. ambassador to MoroccDwight L. Bush, affirmed that the United Stateswas eager to increase foreign direct investment iMorocco in December 2014, noting that a recentrade delegation spoke to Morocco’s “visionary”plan to develop renewable and alternative energysources.38 In addition, Morocco’s five primaryexport and import partners demonstrate breadth

while the nearest European neighbors (Spain andFrance) lead in both categories, Morocco’s otherpartners show significant diversity, with importsfrom China, the United States, and Saudi Arabiaand exports to Brazil, India, and Italy.39

36 See, for example, “Skills for Success — Employability Skills forWomen,”Union for the Mediterranean Press Release , September 30, 2014http://ufmsecretariat.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/PRESS-RELESkills-for-Success_Employability-skills-for-women.pdf .

37 World Bank, “Country and Region Specific Forecasts and Data,”http:/

www.worldbank.org/en/publication/global-economic-prospects/data?able=NYGDPMKTPKDZ&region=MNA.

38 “The United States is Willing to Boost FDI in Morocco: Ambassa Morocco World News, December 4, 2014,http://www.moroccoworldnewcom/2014/12/146046/the-united-states-is-willing-to-boost-fdi-in-morocco-ambassador/.

39 Observatory of Economic Complexity, “Morocco Country Profilehttp://atlas.media.mit.edu/profile/country/mar/.

http://epthinktank.eu/2014/01/16/the-union-of-the-arab-maghreb-and-regional-integration-challenges-and-prospects/http://epthinktank.eu/2014/01/16/the-union-of-the-arab-maghreb-and-regional-integration-challenges-and-prospects/http://epthinktank.eu/2014/01/16/the-union-of-the-arab-maghreb-and-regional-integration-challenges-and-prospects/http://ufmsecretariat.org/objectives/http://ufmsecretariat.org/objectives/http://ufmsecretariat.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/PRESS-RELEASE-Skills-for-Success_Employability-skills-for-women.pdfhttp://ufmsecretariat.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/PRESS-RELEASE-Skills-for-Success_Employability-skills-for-women.pdfhttp://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/global-economic-prospects/data?variable=NYGDPMKTPKDZ&region=MNAhttp://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/global-economic-prospects/data?variable=NYGDPMKTPKDZ&region=MNAhttp://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/global-economic-prospects/data?variable=NYGDPMKTPKDZ&region=MNAhttp://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2014/12/146046/the-united-states-is-willing-to-boost-fdi-in-morocco-ambassador/http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2014/12/146046/the-united-states-is-willing-to-boost-fdi-in-morocco-ambassador/http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2014/12/146046/the-united-states-is-willing-to-boost-fdi-in-morocco-ambassador/http://atlas.media.mit.edu/profile/country/mar/http://atlas.media.mit.edu/profile/country/mar/http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2014/12/146046/the-united-states-is-willing-to-boost-fdi-in-morocco-ambassador/http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2014/12/146046/the-united-states-is-willing-to-boost-fdi-in-morocco-ambassador/http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2014/12/146046/the-united-states-is-willing-to-boost-fdi-in-morocco-ambassador/http://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/global-economic-prospects/data?variable=NYGDPMKTPKDZ&region=MNAhttp://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/global-economic-prospects/data?variable=NYGDPMKTPKDZ&region=MNAhttp://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/global-economic-prospects/data?variable=NYGDPMKTPKDZ&region=MNAhttp://ufmsecretariat.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/PRESS-RELEASE-Skills-for-Success_Employability-skills-for-women.pdfhttp://ufmsecretariat.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/PRESS-RELEASE-Skills-for-Success_Employability-skills-for-women.pdfhttp://ufmsecretariat.org/objectives/http://ufmsecretariat.org/objectives/http://epthinktank.eu/2014/01/16/the-union-of-the-arab-maghreb-and-regional-integration-challenges-and-prospects/http://epthinktank.eu/2014/01/16/the-union-of-the-arab-maghreb-and-regional-integration-challenges-and-prospects/http://epthinktank.eu/2014/01/16/the-union-of-the-arab-maghreb-and-regional-integration-challenges-and-prospects/


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Both sound economic policy and creative re-envisioning of geographic and global opportunitiesfor trade, in short, are differentiating Morocco fromother regional economies and countries facingpolitical challenges.

Keys to Success

• Leverage geography: Geography remains a vital asset, and leaders must carefully frametheir geographic location as a connector whendeveloping strategies for growth.

• Do not be afraid to alter mental frameworks:Given that regions are a construct, successfulnational leadership may require the vision toredraw mental maps in a more inclusive way.

• Provide thought leadership: Solid intellectualwork must be completed before gainingstakeholder buy-in and eliciting favorablepublic opinion.


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T G M F U S14

Collaboration, anentrepreneurial

approach to social andpolitical policymaking,and a commitment to sharing power across

parties, sectors, and generations all offer

ethods for finding andachieving innovative

solutions to profoundchallenges.

C R3T ransformational leadership has reshapedsocieties around the Atlantic Basin. Casestudies of successful civic and politicalleadership taken from Bilbao, Detroit, Colombia,Rwanda, and Morocco suggest that the followingthree core competencies are vital in effecting policyreform in the current context:

• Openness and active seeking of new ideas andopportunities;

• The ability to form bold coalitions forcollaboration, including across generations,sectors, and borders; and

• Strong will to invest in next generation leadersthrough widened, sustainable human resourcepipelines, in times of rapid change and in somecases crisis.

These three core competencies both arise out of,and in turn shape, local civic ethos and institutionalstructures. The challenges discussed in thesecase studies are not unique to their locations.Post-industrial economic transition, economic

inequality, ethnic and religious strife, and the pushfor greater transparency and democratic access areissues that face cities and nations around the widerAtlantic region to different degrees. Approachesdevised by the leaders featured in the case studiesoffered here suggest a common ethos that maybe adapted to meet local circumstances as similar

dynamics unfold over the coming decade in othelocations around the region. Collaboration, anentrepreneurial approach to social and politicalpolicymaking, and a commitment to sharing powacross parties, sectors, and generations all offermethods for finding and achieving innovativesolutions to profound challenges.

If the findings from the case studies analyzedhere may be extrapolated, it appears that themore bold and innovative a proposed solution isthe more quickly its effects will become evident

Change has taken place remarkably fast in BilbaColombia, and Rwanda, and indicators suggestthe same is occurring in Detroit and Morocco.As leaders devise strategies to reframe economipolitical, and social challenges — or in the caseof Rwanda, catastrophes — in light of enhancedglobal connections, benefits accrue in a comprestime frame. At the city level in Detroit, the regiolevel in Bilbao, and the country level aroundthe Atlantic Basin from Colombia to Rwanda toMorocco, visionary leaders are creating the spacfor their constituencies to thrive despite seeming

intractable challenges. Even if still in the eye ofthe storm, transformational leaders have beenable to achieve greater equity and inclusion, affechange on a dramatic scale, and help their societthrough transitions into new periods of growth astability. In this way, they serve as models to leaaround the region.


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Transformational Leadership: Models for Policy Innovation from the Continents of the Atlantic Basin

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