Shock and Awe

With the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development, America dismantles our soft power overseas

Recently, a young man sent in his application to take the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT). He prepared with multiple attempts at the practice test plus multiple meetings with a former FSO who happened to be stationed in Libya and was quite confident of success. Then, suddenly, without warning or explanation of any kind, the State Department sent out an email to all FSOT applicants that their tests would be cancelled. After the young man’s unsuccessful attempt to reschedule the test, first on the website, then by driving to the testing center, and finally waiting on testing company Pearson VUE’s helpline for more than an hour, an explanation was finally given. Thanks to the Trump Administration’s “hiring freeze” across the federal government, the State Department has no use for any new employees. Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), designed to eliminate excessive spending and waste in the federal government, seems the likely culprit.

So, who was this young man? If you guessed me, the writer, you would be correct. As my personal experience can attest, Elon and DOGE mean business.

Today I will focus on one agency directly in Musk’s crosshairs- The United States Agency for International Development, known by its initials USAID. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed the Foreign Assistance Act. According to Kennedy, the United States, as the world’s wealthiest nation, has the “economic obligation” to assist the welfare of poorer nations across the globe and the “political obligation” to spread democratic values in a world menaced at the time by Soviet communism. The birth of USAID was the final product of a process began after World War 2 with the Marshall Plan, the most successful economic development project in the history of mankind, which transformed a war-torn, bankrupt Europe and Japan into the industrial powerhouses they are today. At the time, both Democrats and Republicans saw the reduction of poverty and the development of foreign industry and democratic institutions as vital pillars of American national security.

In the last several decades, USAID has been involved in various projects around the globe promoting health and wellbeing, education, disaster relief, economic development, and the promotion of democracy and free markets. While USAID’s proponents will claim the organization has lifted millions of people out poverty and saved millions more lives from HIV and other diseases, there has recently emerged a vocal faction promoting the theory that USAID performs more harm than good. And now, thanks to harsh criticism of such a “globalist” outfit filled with “waste, fraud, and abuse”, almost the entirety of USAID’s workforce is to be laid off, with the organization coming under the direct supervision of the new Secretary of State Marco Rubio. So, you may be wondering how this writer feels about this development. To no one’s surprise, my attitude toward the sudden purge of USAID is not black or white.

Many Americans, particularly on the right, have long resented organizations such as USAID, an organization representing a Washington they are deeply concerned values the needs of foreign citizens over the suffering of our own people. Public figures aligned with the MAGA movement regularly mention America’s Fentanyl crisis, a humanitarian disaster that kills 75.000 Americans every year. In their belief, the primary duty of the US government is to take care of our own citizens first, rather than foreigners, a sentiment harking back to the isolationist senator Robert Taft, the son of America’s most wide-girthed president. Furthermore, USAID’s archenemy, Elon Musk, escalate the criticism, labeling USAID a “criminal organization” that supports “radically left causes throughout the world including things that are anti-American”. President Trump has followed along, accusing USAID of being run by “radical left lunatics”. Finally, FOX News commentator Jesse Watters offered the sharpest criticism of all, warning that USAID is nothing more than a “$40 billion deep state social justice slush fund.”

The White House and Elon Musk, currently America’s most powerful duo, has offered examples where USAID has strayed far from Kennedy’s original mission. Many of the alleged abuses, as Watters alluded to, were targeted toward left-wing social justice-minded initiatives the United States government has no business supporting. These include an alleged “transgender opera” in Colombia, promotion of “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” (DEI) in Serbia, alleged promotion of atheism in Nepal, money for sex changes in Guatemala, and worst of all, supporting an organization, the EcoHealth Alliance, that the White House alleges worked at the notorious Wuhan Virology Institute. I am sure everyone knows by know that the travesty also known as the Covid Pandemic did begin at the Wuhan Virology Institute, not a Chinese wet market. Even the CIA now acknowledges this fact.

I would like to make absolutely clear that I do not support these sorts of initiatives. They go against my core principles that oppose excessive progressivism and “wokeness” as well ask the tasks Kennedy originally envisioned at USAID. Instead, I would like to point to the words of an old-school pre-Trump era Republican, Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker: “I have felt for a long time that USAID is our way to combat the Belt and Road Initiative, which is China’s effort to really gain influence around the world, including Africa and South America in the Western Hemisphere.” China is a predatory power, and the US government, if we care at all about our security and the future of the world, should be laser-focused on thwarting Chinese influence wherever it shows up. Furthermore, I have found no evidence of any performances of transgender-themed operas in Colombia or elsewhere. If you have such evidence, please enlighten me.

For this writer, an old-fashioned American internationalist skeptical of the America First ideology, Elon Musk’s war on USAID is less about the various progressive excesses seen in USAID programs, the humanitarian foundations of USAID, or even the constitutionally debatable policy to work around congress that Democrats have loudly criticized. Instead, I feel that the Trump Administration has made the willful decision to relinquish the US government’s role in promoting American soft power. By soft power, I mean initiatives promoting why our governance model and cultural foundations are superior to the alternatives practiced in Beijing and Moscow. Soft power has minimal costs, but if used effectively, has tremendous benefits for global opinion of the United States. Instead, USAID’s harshest critics don’t seem to care about America’s image overseas, an unfortunate gift to our enemies I believe our country will regret.

And speaking of Moscow, it is in Eastern Europe where the collapse of USAID hits the hardest for me. Just look at Kosovo, a country the United States essentially created following a Serbian-directed genocide of the local Albanian population. Serbia today remains an existential threat to Kosovo, a regional bully who would have taken back the predominantly ethnic Albanian territory by force if not for the international security mission KFOR who have kept the peace since 1999. Yet, according to Kosovar analyst Safet Gerxhaliu, Kosovo is “dependent on foreign aid, mostly on U.S aid.” Kosovo remains of the major successes of American foreign policy of the last 30 years. Do we really wish to see the collapse of Kosovo and hand a major geopolitical victory to China and Russia? If your answer is yes, please reach out to me so I can properly explain the stakes.

I get it. You may be unhappy with my support for USAID’s mission. How could I support an organization with such aggressively social justice-oriented projects that have little purpose in supporting the national interest? It’s not those leftist programs I support. I am happy to see DEI tossed into the trash bin. Instead, the United States government should at least have something in place to serve the United States Agency for International Development’s original mission as defined by John F Kennedy and furthered by other administrations since his- before the whole thing derailed off the track in recent years. Serbia may not need American-style social justice DEI initiatives. In my opinion, Serbian culture merely needs to accept, with American assistance, that Kosovo is a sovereign state who deserves the right to determine its own affairs. And with the proper foresight on our part, they may not need China or Russia anymore.

And don’t forget Ukraine, the largest beneficiary of USAID grants. However, it seems Elon Musk and DOGE have other ideas about how the United States should function. Maybe they should listen to my ideas as well. Just food for thought.