The Gates Foundation's network diplomacy in European donor countries.

IF 5.9 2区 医学 Q1 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
Antoine de Bengy Puyvallée, Katerini Tagmatarchi Storeng, Simon Rushton
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The Gates Foundation is the most influential private philanthropic foundation in global health and development. This article examines how the Foundation has developed an unparalleled capacity to rally other donors to its priorities, which include the development and distribution of technological tools to reduce the burden of infectious disease and child mortality in the world's most impoverished regions. Using publicly available data, the article analyses the Gates Foundation's strategic engagement in Europe, focusing on its bureaucratic presence, government relations, and grant-making in its three European focus countries: the United Kingdom (UK), Germany and France. It highlights that, since 2010, the Gates Foundation has built a bureaucratic infrastructure akin to a diplomatic service, establishing country offices in London and Berlin alongside representation in Paris, Brussels and Stockholm. Through regular engagement with elected officials and bureaucrats in these nations, the Foundation has forged many strategic partnerships, effectively leveraging European states' diplomatic power in wider political forums and alliances. Moreover, the Foundation has disbursed billions in grants to recipients in the UK, Germany, and France to advance research and innovation on its priority health issues, implement programs in poor countries, and develop policy and advocacy related to global health and development. Combined, these efforts have contributed to securing substantial and recurrent government co-investment in Gates-supported initiatives. The article proposes that the Foundation exercises a form of 'network diplomacy' that entails building and maintaining wide networks across European societies with the aim of aligning donor governments' overseas development assistance and policies with the Foundation's strategic objectives in global health and development. The concept of network diplomacy offers a new perspective on how the Gates Foundation has consolidated and expanded its transnational political presence through an approach that is strategic, bureaucratised and institutionalised, rather than simply a product of its financial might. The findings amplify existing concerns regarding the sway of private foundations over public policy, their impact on democratic accountability and governance in donor states, and the resultant implications for the Foundation's intended beneficiaries in low- and middle-income countries.

盖茨基金会在欧洲捐助国的网络外交。
盖茨基金会是全球健康与发展领域最具影响力的私人慈善基金会。本文探讨了基金会如何发展出无与伦比的能力,动员其他捐助者支持其优先事项,其中包括开发和分发技术工具,以减轻世界上最贫困地区的传染病负担和儿童死亡率。本文利用公开数据,分析了盖茨基金会在欧洲的战略参与,重点关注其在三个欧洲重点国家(英国、德国和法国)的官僚存在、政府关系和拨款。报告强调,自2010年以来,盖茨基金会建立了类似外交服务的官僚基础设施,在伦敦和柏林设立了国家办事处,并在巴黎、布鲁塞尔和斯德哥尔摩设立了代表机构。通过定期与这些国家的民选官员和官僚接触,基金会建立了许多战略伙伴关系,有效地利用了欧洲国家在更广泛的政治论坛和联盟中的外交力量。此外,该基金会还向英国、德国和法国的受助人提供了数十亿美元的赠款,用于推进其重点卫生问题的研究和创新,在贫穷国家实施项目,并制定与全球卫生和发展相关的政策和宣传。综合起来,这些努力有助于确保政府对盖茨支持的倡议进行大量和经常性的共同投资。这篇文章提出,基金会实行一种“网络外交”形式,需要在欧洲各社会建立和维持广泛的网络,目的是使捐助国政府的海外发展援助和政策与基金会在全球卫生和发展方面的战略目标保持一致。网络外交的概念为盖茨基金会如何通过战略性、官僚化和制度化的方式巩固和扩大其跨国政治存在提供了一个新的视角,而不仅仅是其财力的产物。研究结果放大了现有的担忧,包括私人基金会对公共政策的影响、它们对捐助国民主问责制和治理的影响,以及由此对基金会在中低收入国家的预期受益人产生的影响。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Globalization and Health
Globalization and Health PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-
CiteScore
18.40
自引率
1.90%
发文量
93
期刊介绍: "Globalization and Health" is a pioneering transdisciplinary journal dedicated to situating public health and well-being within the dynamic forces of global development. The journal is committed to publishing high-quality, original research that explores the impact of globalization processes on global public health. This includes examining how globalization influences health systems and the social, economic, commercial, and political determinants of health. The journal welcomes contributions from various disciplines, including policy, health systems, political economy, international relations, and community perspectives. While single-country studies are accepted, they must emphasize global/globalization mechanisms and their relevance to global-level policy discourse and decision-making.
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