After a short stint at USDA, Rajiv Shah has been picked by the Obama Administration to head up the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). With his confirmation pending, one wonders why Mr. Shah, a candidate with limited international development experience and just six months of government service under his belt, was chosen for such an important post. This selection follows on his prior appointment as the Chief Scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. At the time of his appointment, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack referred to Mr. Shah as “a globally recognized leader in science, health and economics.” But with no formal background in agriculture and no substantive research record, this recognition came about as much because of the high-profile of Mr. Shah’s position at the Gates Foundation than anything the 36-year old medical doctor had actually accomplished in his short but meteoric public career. Apparently, what seems to count is Shah’s unconditional support for unregulated global markets and the expansion of the biotechnology industry.

These qualities distinguish him from otherwise stellar candidates like Paul Farmer, the renowned medical anthropologist who co-founded Partners in Health (PIH), an internationally-acclaimed international health institute with projects in Russia, Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi and Peru. Dr. Farmer, though favored by Hillary Clinton, was rejected by the White House. This was not because of his record of innovative and award-winning work in international development, but because after decades of witnessing the suffering that free trade agreements and corporate expansion have visited upon the developing world, he was a poor standard-bearer for the Administration’s approach to development.