International Relations and Trade Issue Area Plan--Fiscal Years 1996-98
(Letter Report, 06/01/96, GAO/IAP-96-6).

GAO presented its International Relations and Trade issue area plan for
fiscal years 1996 through 1998.

GAO plans to: (1) determine the direct and indirect costs of U.S.
participation in multilateral institutions and agreements, and U.S.
progress in implementing trade agreements and promoting international
stability; (2) identify legislative changes and regulatory reforms that
would improve the impact of U.S. programs and produce budgetary savings;
(3) identify new U.S. strategies to stem the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction; (4) assess the cost, impact, and implementation status
of key U.S. foreign policy and trade initiatives as well as alternatives
to current U.S. participation in multilateral institutions and
agreements; (5) assess the impact of U.S. assistance to the former
Soviet Union in reducing weapons of mass destruction, and how efforts to
expand multilateral security arrangements are accomplishing U.S.
security goals; (6) evaluate the impact of specific U.S. bilateral
programs and agreements on political, economic, and security interests;
and (7) analyze the extent to which U.S. participation in multilateral
institutions and agreements advances U.S. interests.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  IAP-96-6
     TITLE:  International Relations and Trade Issue Area Plan--Fiscal 
             Years 1996-98
      DATE:  06/01/96
   SUBJECT:  Federal agency reorganization
             Cost control
             International relations
             Arms control agreements
             Exporting
             International trade
             International organizations
             Globalization
             Federal aid to foreign countries
IDENTIFIER:  North American Free Trade Agreement
             Soviet Union
             Japan
             Bosnia
             DOD Cooperative Threat Reduction Program
             North Korea
             South Korea
             NAFTA
             
******************************************************************
** This file contains an ASCII representation of the text of a  **
** GAO report.  Delineations within the text indicating chapter **
** titles, headings, and bullets are preserved.  Major          **
** divisions and subdivisions of the text, such as Chapters,    **
** Sections, and Appendixes, are identified by double and       **
** single lines.  The numbers on the right end of these lines   **
** indicate the position of each of the subsections in the      **
** document outline.  These numbers do NOT correspond with the  **
** page numbers of the printed product.                         **
**                                                              **
** No attempt has been made to display graphic images, although **
** figure captions are reproduced.  Tables are included, but    **
** may not resemble those in the printed version.               **
**                                                              **
** Please see the PDF (Portable Document Format) file, when     **
** available, for a complete electronic file of the printed     **
** document's contents.                                         **
**                                                              **
** A printed copy of this report may be obtained from the GAO   **
** Document Distribution Center.  For further details, please   **
** send an e-mail message to:                                   **
**                                                              **
**                                            **
**                                                              **
** with the message 'info' in the body.                         **
******************************************************************


Cover
================================================================ COVER


National Security and International Affairs Division

June 1996

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND TRADE
ISSUE AREA PLAN - FISCAL YEARS
1996-98

GAO/IAP-96-6



Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV


FOREWORD
============================================================ Chapter 0

As the investigative arm of Congress and the nation's auditor, the
General Accounting Office is charged with following the federal
dollar wherever it goes.  Reflecting stringent standards of
objectivity and independence, GAO's audits, evaluations, and
investigations promote a more efficient and cost-effective
government; expose waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in federal
programs; help Congress target budget reductions; assess financial
information management; and alert Congress to developing trends that
may have significant fiscal or budgetary consequences.  In fulfilling
its responsibilities, GAO performs original research and uses
hundreds of databases or creates its own when information is
unavailable elsewhere. 

To ensure that GAO's resources are directed toward the most important
issues facing Congress, each of GAO's 32 issue areas develops a
strategic plan that describes the significance of the issues it
addresses, its objectives, and the focus of its work.  Each issue
area relies heavily on input from congressional committees, agency
officials, and subject-matter experts in developing its strategic
plan. 

The International Relations and Trade issue area covers the
Department of State, the U.S.  Agency for International Development,
the U.S.  Information Agency, the Arms Control and Disarmament
Agency, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Office of
the U.S.  Trade Representative, the U.S.  International Trade
Commission, the U.S.  Trade and Development Agency, the Foreign
Agricultural Service of the Department of Agriculture, and the
International Trade Administration of the Department of Commerce. 

The costs and effectiveness of foreign affairs and trade activities
are being closely scrutinized.  Our work in this area seeks to assess
the extent to which the U.S.  government makes the best use of its
resources to promote and protect U.S.  international interests.  Our
work focuses on

  -- the structure, functions, and budgets of the foreign affairs and
     trade agencies;

  -- the effectiveness and management of bilateral U.S.  government
     programs;

  -- U.S.  participation in multilateral institutions and agreements;

  -- U.S.  arms control and nonproliferation programs and agreements
     designed to address the threats posed by the spread of dangerous
     weapons; and

  -- management of various U.S.  government foreign affairs and trade
     programs in selected critical geographic regions. 

In the pages that follow, we describe our key planned work on these
important issues. 

Because events may significantly affect even the best of plans, our
process allows for updating the plan and provides the flexibility to
respond quickly to emerging issues.  If you have any questions or
suggestions about this plan, please call me at (202) 512-4128. 

Benjamin F.  Nelson
Director
International Relations and Trade Issues


CONTENTS
============================================================ Chapter 1


   FOREWORD
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:1

1


   TABLE I:  KEY ISSUES
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:2

4


   TABLE II:  PLANNED MAJOR WORK
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:3

6


   TABLE III:  GAO CONTACTS
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1:4

7


TABLE I:  KEY ISSUES
============================================================ Chapter 2

Issue                         Significance
----------------------------  --------------------------------------------------
Structures, functions, and    Various proposals have been advanced to reevaluate
budgets: How do U.S.          the roles and functions of the foreign affairs and
structures for conducting     trade agencies, in order to accomplish government
international relations and   streamlining in this era of fiscal constraints.
trade need to be adjusted to  Opportunities for agency restructuring, management
reflect post-Cold War needs   reform, and elimination of non-essential functions
and fiscal realities?         need to be identified and examined in order to
                              contribute to congressional debate.



Program management and        Over 15 different U.S. government organizations
effectiveness: Are bilateral  collectively spend about $10 billion annually on
programs and agreements       aid, trade, and counternarcotics programs designed
designed to advance U.S.      to promote and protect U.S. economic and political
political and economic        interests overseas. Numerous budgetary,
interests effective and are   management, coordination, and foreign competitor
they managed efficiently?     issues need to be addressed to ensure that federal
                              expenditures are effective and efficient.



Participation in              Multilateral institutions such as the United
multilateral institutions:    Nations, World Bank, World Trade Organization,
How are U.S. interests        North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and
served through participation  NATO have become major key foreign policy
in multilateral institutions  instruments for promoting democracy, free market
and agreements?               economies, open trading systems, and world
                              stability. At the same time, Congress has raised
                              questions about these institutions' relevance,
                              effectiveness, and $4-billion annual cost.
                              Objective analysis is needed to help identify how
                              multilateral instruments and alternatives can best
                              advance U.S. interests at least cost.


Promoting U.S. security: How  Stemming the spread of dangerous weapons and
are U.S. security-related     technologies remains a critical objective of U.S.
programs and international    national security policy, given the collapse of
agreements addressing the     the Soviet bloc and ongoing concerns about
threats posed by the          potential trouble spots such as North Korea,
proliferation of dangerous    China, and Iran. Contributing to the success of
weapons?                      U.S. arms control programs, which cost over $2
                              billion a year, should over the long term reduce
                              future defense costs and increase U.S. security.



Critical geographic regions:  U.S. interests in certain geographic areas are
How has the U.S. government   wide-ranging, complex, and sometimes competing,
focused its programs and      and various U.S. agencies can be active in these
activities to advance U.S.    regions. Identifying what foreign policy programs
interests in critical         are available and how they are being used and
geographic regions?           coordinated will contribute to the improved
                              management of U.S. foreign affairs capabilities.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Objectives                                          Focus of work
--------------------------------------------------  ----------------------------
Determine the compatibility of foreign affairs     Proposals to reorganize the
agencies' functions and roles with priorities,      foreign affairs agencies
budget constraints, and capabilities.               Agencies' efforts to
Identify ways to improve management of agency      streamline and downsize
resources and cut costs.                            operations to accommodate
Assess progress of and savings from reform         budget cuts
efforts at foreign affairs agencies and the         Affordability of foreign
advantages, disadvantages, and cost implications    affairs and trade functions
of proposals to reorganize the foreign affairs
apparatus.


 Evaluate the impact of specific U.S. bilateral    Large, highly visible, or
programs and agreements on political, economic,     controversial country
and security interests.                             assistance programs
 Identify management improvements, legislative     U.S. assistance programs'
changes, and regulatory reforms that would improve  contributions to U.S.
the impact of U.S. programs and produce budgetary   economic interests
savings.                                            Management and operation of
 Assess the cost, impact, and implementation       U.S. government export
status of key U.S foreign policy and trade          assistance programs
initiatives as well impediments experienced in      Foreign competitor programs
their implementation.                               and activities

Determine the direct and indirect costs of U.S.    Effectiveness and
participation.                                      efficiency of multilateral
Analyze the extent to which U.S. participation in  institutions, agreements,
these institutions and agreements advances U.S.     and options
interests.                                          Opportunities to cut costs
Assess alternatives to current U.S. participation  and enhance effectiveness
and opportunities for improved efficiencies and     through management reform,
cost-cutting.                                       elimination of duplication,
Determine progress in implementing trade           and integration of
agreements and tools to promote international       international affairs and
stability.                                          foreign economic policy
                                                    tools

Assess the impact of U.S. assistance to the        Progress in reducing
former Soviet Union in reducing weapons of mass     stockpiles of weapons of
destruction.                                        mass destruction
Identify and assess new U.S. strategies to stem    Costs and justifications of
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.   counterproliferation
 Assess how efforts to expand multilateral         efforts
security arrangements are accomplishing U.S.        Costs of implementing arms
security goals.                                     control regimes
                                                    NATO enlargement

Identify factors affecting the U.S. government's   U.S. policies, programs,
use of a variety of foreign policy programs in a    and agreements with Asia
critical region.                                    Progress in the former
Identify ways to improve governmentwide strategic  Soviet Union
planning, budgeting, and coordination of various    U.S. commitments in the
U.S. programs.                                      Middle East
Identify U.S. commitments/agreements and
supporting resources
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TABLE II:  PLANNED MAJOR WORK
============================================================ Chapter 3

Issue                    Planned major job starts
-----------------------  -------------------------------------------------------
Structures, functions,   Roles, functions, and streamlining of the State
and budgets              Department and U.S. Information Agency\a
                         Impact of consolidating foreign affairs activities and
                         functions
                          Rationalizing USAID's development strategies with
                         current resource levels
                          Trade structures and mechanisms


Program management       Japan's compliance with bilateral agreements on
and effectiveness        financial services\a
                         Export-Import Bank reauthorization issues
                         Results of U.S. trade missions overseas
                         Enforcement of U.S. trade laws
                         Effectiveness of U.S. counternarcotics efforts\a
                         Assessment of major USAID programs
                         Diplomatic security costs and implications
                         Comparative analysis of agricultural export credit
                         guarantee programs
                         Impact of reducing domestic farm payments on U.S.
                         agricultural trade and export programs\b


Participation in         World Trade Organization implementation issues
multilateral             NAFTA impact and operation
institutions             U.S. participation in U.N. specialized agencies\a
                         Nation building and peace in Bosnia\a
                         Duplication and effectiveness of the U.N. system


Promoting U.S.           Cooperative Threat Reduction Program
security                 Defense Department Counterproliferation Efforts
                         Costs of specific arms control efforts
                         Chinese proliferation activities
                         U.S./Japan/S. Korea/N. Korea "Agreed Framework"


Critical geographic      Critical issues in U.S.-Asia relationships
regions                  Costs and implications of U.S. commitments in the
                         Middle East


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a Ongoing assignments

\b To be done in coordination with GAO's Resources, Community, and
Economic Development Division


TABLE III:  GAO CONTACTS
============================================================ Chapter 4


      DIRECTOR
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4:0.1

Benjamin Nelson (202) 512-4128


      ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4:0.2

Jess Ford
Jayetta Hecker
Harold J.  Johnson


      ASSISTANT DIRECTORS
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4:0.3

John Brummet
Sharon Chamberlain
Diana Glod
Patrick Gormley
Kenneth Hoeth
Virginia Hughes
John Hutton
Ronald Kushner
David Martin
Tetsuo Miyabara
Leroy Richardson
F.  James Shafer
Elizabeth Sirois
Lawrence Suda
Philip Thomas
Louis Zanardi

*** End of document. ***