America Steps Back, China Moves In

The U.S. Is Dismantling Its Soft Power While China Expands Its Influence

For decades, the United States built and maintained global influence not just through military power or economic clout, but through education, aid, and development. USAID projects and international scholarship programs created a vast network of leaders, policymakers, and professionals whose careers were shaped by American institutions, values, and partnerships. This investment in soft power made the U.S. the country of choice for ambitious minds, the go-to partner for developing economies, and a central player in shaping global norms.

Now, that network is being dismantled.

I know this firsthand. A U.S. scholarship at George Washington University shaped my career, just as leading a USAID co-financed regulatory reform project gave me the tools and connections to make a real impact. These experiences weren’t just opportunities for me—they were part of America’s smartest long-term strategy for global influence.

That investment is now being abandoned. The Trump administration’s gutting of USAID is not merely a budget cut—it’s a strategic retreat. USAID, once the backbone of U.S. foreign assistance, has seen its funding slashed, projects suspended, and offices closed. At a time when nations around the world face growing governance, economic, and environmental challenges, the U.S. is pulling out rather than leading.

And China is more than ready to use this American recipe to build its own soft power.

For decades, the U.S. was unrivaled in shaping global influence without force—offering aid, scholarships, and development projects that created strong and lasting partnerships. Now, by stepping back, it is handing that influence to its greatest competitor.

Through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Beijing is rapidly expanding its footprint, signing deals with over 145 countries and pouring trillions into infrastructure and development. As of 2025, at least 53 African nations, 21 Latin American and Caribbean countries, and nine Middle Eastern states have formal agreements with China under BRI. Many of these are the same regions where USAID once played a dominant role. Now, where USAID retreats, Chinese investments take hold.

Beijing has also recognized the power of education as a tool of influence. While international enrollment in U.S. universities has declined due to restrictive visa policies and funding cuts, China is aggressively expanding scholarships for students from the Global South. Many of the same bright minds that once sought American education and connections are now studying in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Confucius Institutes and China-backed academic programs are shaping the next generation of global leaders, embedding them in a different political and economic system—one where Washington is no longer the center of gravity.

No one can blame China for doing what America once did so effectively. The U.S. perfected this strategy—winning influence through engagement, offering development instead of dependency, and building a generation of leaders with ties to Washington. China is not reinventing the playbook; it is simply using it, while the U.S. inexplicably abandons it.

The consequences won’t be immediate, but they will be irreversible. A world that once instinctively turned to America for leadership, investment, and education will look elsewhere. Future leaders will forge ties not with Washington, but with Beijing—or some other emerging centre of power.

And when the U.S. finally realises what it has lost, maybe it will be too late to take it back.