Uncle Sam Shoots Himself

You know the excuses: We can’t afford foreign aid anymore, or we’re wasting money pouring it into these poor countries, or we can’t buy friends—other countries just take the money and dislike us for giving it. Well, all these excuses are just that, excuses—and they’re dead wrong.

?Ronald Reagan, 1987

The decision to pillage USAID is not a surprising move for a new administration that campaigned successfully on American isolationism, but it is a uniquely and potentially devastatingly bad one.?Admittedly, this isn't our first rodeo, as similar to a drunk driver moving back and forth across the center line on an empty highway we have swerved into and out of this philosophical lane many times over the past 250 years.? Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon’s Secretary of State, explained:

?America’s journey through international politics has been a triumph of faith over experience. Torn between nostalgia for a pristine past and yearning for a perfect future, American thought has oscillated between isolationism and commitment.

In its earliest iteration -typified by George Washington’s famous suggestion to avoid “permanant alliances” with other nations - a degree of isolationism was a reasonable choice. Despite the way we view the Revolutionary War as a courageous David vs. Goliath story, we were actually fortunate to have prevailed and if forced to defend ourselves in the years following we would likely have quickly handed our independence back to any of the major powers in Europe.

Our most recent serious effort to withdraw from the world and its conflicts was during the 1930’s, but we were abruptly shocked out of that by a guy with a weird moustache and some Japanese planes on an early December morning in 1941. However, since that time, the world has become increasingly interconnected and "globalistic" - whether your political worldview supports that or not - as the economic, nutritional, environmental, medical and technologic structures of the world are now woven together and cannot be separated unless you are prepared to actually shred the fabric of peaceful international coexistence. The war in Ukraine had a major impact on global wheat availability and led to food insecurity in some parts of the world. Likewise, you may not care about the Chinese economy - and may even want it to tank if you are a geopolitical zero-sum gamer - but when that happens we feel it here in America as well.

One way to think of the world’s interconnectivity is to imagine every single item in your kitchen connected by a stretchy, taut rubber band to every other one – pots, pans, food, utensils, everything… if you pick anything up, a lot of other things are going to unavoidably move. This makes an isolationist approach to geopolitics unpredictable at best and more likely self-defeating. Someone... somewhere... is going to pick something up in your kitchen.?

The opposite of isolationism is of course engagement - and one of the most successful tools in the history of civilization is one we have used for this purpose - The United States Agency for International Development, or USAID. This organization has provided for the bulk of foreign aid dispensed by the United States over the past sixty years, especially in the areas of health (more than 70% of ALL global assistance in this domain) and humanitarian services.

The idea of USAID was initially championed by President John F. Kennedy. In an important speech in March of 1961, he urged Congress to consider funding the new initiative and outlined his thoughts on America's international role...

?…there is no escaping our obligations: our moral obligations as a wise leader and good neighbor in the interdependent community of free nations--our economic obligations as the wealthiest people in a world of largely poor people... and our political obligations as the single largest counter to the adversaries of freedom... To fail to meet those obligations now would be disastrous; and, in the long run, more expensive. For widespread poverty and chaos lead to a collapse of existing political and social structures which would inevitably invite the advance of totalitarianism into every weak and unstable area. Thus our own security would be endangered and our prosperity imperiled...I believe the program which I have outlined is both a reasonable and sensible method of meeting those obligations as economically and effectively as possible. I strongly urge its enactment by the Congress, in full awareness of the many eyes upon us--the eyes of other industrialized nations, awaiting our leadership for a stronger united effort--the eyes of our adversaries, awaiting the weakening of our resolve in this new area of international struggle--the eyes of the poorer peoples of the world, looking for hope and help, and needing an incentive to set realistic long-range goals--and, finally, the eyes of the American people, who are fully aware of their obligations to the sick, the poor and the hungry, wherever they may live.?

Later that year the U.S. House of Representatives acted on his request, and passed HR 7372: “A Bill To Promote The Foreign Policy, Security And General Welfare Of The United States By Assisting Peoples Of The World In Their Efforts Toward Economic And Social Development And Internal and External Security, And For Other Purposes”, and in the process established USAID.? What has that organization – one Elon Musk recently described as a “Criminal Organization” achieved since that time?

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Here are some very high level highlights - there are simply too many to fully enumerate here:

• In its first 50 years, USAID facilitated the Green Revolution, moving Asian countries from starvation to agricultural exporters, funded research at U.S. universities on developing country needs, provided pesticides and farming technology around the globe, funded developing world disease research, initiated programs in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East for humanitarian support, rescue and nutrition, instituted the global AIDS and HIV program, and supported efforts for a number of countries to move their governments to a more democratic structure - in addition to many other projects and initiatives
• More recently… the efforts of USAID have saved the lives of more than 10 million people through the President’s Malaria initiative (George W. Bush, 2005) and helped tens of millions obtain access to AIDS treatment.? provided electricity to tens of millions, textbook and other educational support to more than 50 million children in more than 40 countries, and via the Feed the Future initiative, reduced poverty between 7 and 36 percent and child malnutrition between 6 and 40 percent in many geographies since 2010. The organization has also supported the transition of many governments to democracy, and supported representative democracy in others such as Ukraine.

The humanitarian benefits of USAID are obvious, but what if we were to view its work as simply transactional, ergo what have we really accomplished for the citizens of America? An admitted problem is few of us have lived in a world without USAID and its foreign aid in play, and since the world and the way it interacts with America are far from perfect we might be tempted assume it hasn't had much impact. However, that is objectively untrue and our lives over the past sixty-four years would assuredly have been much more difficult without it.

USAID has encouraged many other governments to pursue democracy, or at least to not fully embrace autocracy or autocratic adversaries. It has also facilitated development of stable economies and markets for American goods and services and has helped maintain global peace and stability. This in turn has lessened the need to deploy American military troops and resources, discouraged adversaries' interventions, and tempered the incredibly untoward economic and humanitarian effects of refugee crises. Finally, this support has facilitated global health - which has had an indirect impact on developing world government stability and decreased the chance for things such as isolated epidemics (e.g. Ebola and others) to impact Americans or spread globally to both destabilize its interconnected economy and unnecessarily end the lives of millions (think of the impact of COVID would have had if it killed >50% of those infected).

But what about our own challenges - right here at home? Aren't we making it more difficult for Americans and not putting "America First" when we send cash elsewhere? We do indeed have many of the same problems we are working to ameliorate abroad right here in the US of A, but it is a false dichotomy to suggest we cannot deal with them due to our foreign aid expenditures. We are the richest country in the history of civilization, but also one that struggles with prioritization. For example, tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy actually do not "trickle down" to domestic public health and poverty programs. And while we are indeed the largest provider of foreign aid by total outlay of dollars we are NOT the largest spenders in the developed world when compared to gross domestic product (GDP). We're one of the lowest.

How do the so-called "criminals" working for USAID view the move to possibly gut the organization? This past week, two letters to the editor at The New York Times were submitted by individuals with significant ties to the organization. Here is an excerpt from one of them:

?As a U.S.A.I.D. spouse and a retired State Department Foreign Service officer, I witnessed firsthand the gratitude that U.S.A.I.D. recipients felt, in Nicaragua, Guatemala and particularly Uganda, where my husband, Paul D. Cohn, helped develop the first successful AIDS program in Africa, saving thousands of lives. One winter, working in Washington, he helped save the people of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from freezing when the Russian-built central heating system ran out of coal. He was just one of many who did what had to be done...Those being discharged in the most belittling manner are people who work in the most challenging circumstances, often at great risk to themselves. In the years that I served, I lost many whom I considered friends: Two were murdered; one was kidnapped by Al Qaeda and held captive for four years before dying in an American airstrike; one died of pneumonia; one was killed in a motorcycle accident; one child was electrocuted; one spouse died of malaria, and others, including my husband, were infected but survived. Others were killed in embassy bombings or plane crashes... People who demonstrate the best of American values are being discharged by an unrestrained, cruel billionaire calling them criminals, at the behest of our president. Do they think we won’t notice?

- Irene Posner Cohn, San Francisco, California

Americans, including this one, neither want their tax dollars spent indiscriminately on international projects with no real impact, nor aid programs that undermine our reputation and safety.? Although it should be noted the USAID already has multiple layers of audit in place for both budgeting processes as well as foreign utilization of funds, I am also sure we would all more than welcome a more stringent review of all projects and spending and elimination of any deemed irresponsible. However, there is a significant difference between auditing and streamlining an organization's efforts... and gutting one.

From a national security perspective, these actions are literally like Uncle Sam pointing a gun at his foot and maniacally blowing his own toes off. Whether you are a hard core MAGA supporter, or a bleeding heart liberal, you would likely agree with President Joe Biden's commentary the world is currently engaged in an existential struggle he termed "a battle between autocracy and democracy". So make no mistake, when China's leader Xi Jinping speaks of his desire to create a "multipolar world" what he really wants is to diminish American influence - and democracy in general - around the globe, and trashing U.S. international aid plays directly into his hands. Precipitously yanking support from allies and the developing world emboldens autocratic China, Russia and others - who are anxiously waiting to fill any voids our departure from these programs will create - makes it more likely developing countries will begin to preferentially orbit dark authoritarian suns, and makes it less likely our friends will help us when we need them to do so. Despite our bravado, and anything a former television personality turned Defense Secretary might do to re-instill a "warrior mentality" in our defense and military capabilities, we will need friends at some point - mark my words.

While it is objectively the prerogative of any sovereign nation to cut whatever funding programs it chooses, terminating USAID global support precipitously not only compromises our national security, but is also immoral and inhumane. Our actions over the past few weeks are already impacting the health, welfare and actual survival of other human beings around the world - individuals who by no fault of their own are dependent on our support and who have looked to the United States and its citizens as beacons of hope.

President Kennedy reminded us of our shared humanity a few months before his untimely and tragic death in 1963, as he spoke on the march of Soviet totalitarianism and was assuredly hoping his new international aid program would help to facilitate the idea of and opportunity for freedom around the world...

?For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.

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Footnote:

For additional positive comments from past and present American leaders regarding the value of foreign aid programs (including Marco Rubio, the new U.S. Secretary of State), go here:

https://www.usglc.org/our-issue/quotes/