Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” etc.). Soft power is also a component of “smart power” and “sharp power” strategies in which a combination of foreign policy instruments are used in concert in pursuit of a variety of non-kinetic ends (i.e. objectives short of war).
This razor-gang approach is short-sighted at best and stupid at worst given that the humanitarian/developmental aid vacuum left by US withdrawal from such efforts opens up the field to potential inroads by US rivals. Add to that the fact that USAID pays US farmers around $2 Billion for surplus rice, soy, corn and other agricultural commodities that otherwise would not be grown or go to waste, and the MAGA/DOGE move against USAID is a double-sided own-goal.
The NZ government, which currently is under the sway of MAGA/DOGE-style public policy ideologies, might do good to remember this when it deals with soft power competition in the South Pacific. Waving a (thornless) stick (say, in the form of withdrawal of foreign aid) at Pacific Island Forum countries when they negotiate bilateral economic, diplomatic and developmental aid agreements with non-“traditional” (non-Western/colonial) partners is likely to elicit some blowback of its own.
After all, regardless of the specific compacts agreed to in the past, sovereign States, whatever powers and protections they may have ceded to “traditional” partners, ultimately are autonomous agents of their own destinies. Foreign aid is a good way to remind them that that may be true but destinies can often be intertwined for mutual benefit even if other parties come late to the table.
As can already be seen by the actions of Kiribati and the Cook Islands.
Stephen,
Yes, I thought of those two cases since they have been in the news, but there are others. NZ does not seem to have considered the downside of its enthusiastic courtship of AUKUS Pillar Two (a pipedream, IMO),in terms of how PIF/SoPac states feel about an expanded nuclear presence in the region. I have no doubts that PRC soft power projection is part of a sharp power strategy but NZ’s hostile reaction plays into its hands rather than mitigate against or ringfence around it. Having said all of that, corruption in the Cooks and Kiribati in the face of PRC sharp power “dollar diplomacy” is a legitimate concern given the “hard” component potentially hidden in that strategy.
It would be perhaps a more complete treatment if one were also to address the charges that have been levelled against USAID, including involvement in agitation, destabilization, regime change and suppression of development ? And note also that it has been proposed that the aid functions be integrated within State Dept?
William:
I do not know what USAID may have been doing recently, but doing my time inn the USG there were credible reports that it and the Peace Corps were used as CIA fronts. Make often what you will. I also thought that USAID was a branch of the State Dept, not a stand-alone agency, so that was surprise to find out. Whatever the case, the DOGE approach seems to be a case throwing the baby out with the bathwater. And THAT may be the real objective for Musk, Thiel, other tech bros behind the scene and that evil Svengali Stephen Miller.
Pablo that is an excellent take on soft power. Moreover, Trump’s administration’s trade, domestic, and foreign policies will likely kill off New Zealand’s chances of joining Aukus Pillar Two.
Another aspect of U.S. foreign aid is tied to Trump’s Gaza proposals. If he can cease assistance to Egypt and Jordan in response to their opposition to his lunatic plan, those countries will drift into China’s sphere of influence. China will write out the cheques after Trump throws another wobbly.
No surprises here about the funding of Politico USA.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/politico-ny-times-propped-millions-dollars-us-government?utm_source=daily_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=3999
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/politico-ny-times-propped-millions-dollars-us-government?utm_source=daily_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=3999
C’mon Paul,
Even you can do better than a Russian disinformation/Q Anon conspiracy theory outlet as a source.
Yes, as China has got the jump on us in the Cook Islands we need to attend to upping soft power with our Pacific neighbours.
Barbara,
The irony is that USAID, NZAID and OZAID come with transparency and accountability requirements that even if honoured in the breach are a means of ensuring that most aid goes to where it is supposed to. PRC aid and its dollar diplomacy have strings attached, but they are hidden from public scrutiny and often involve financial “incentives” to local officials and subservience to immediate PRC geopolitical objectives. The opaqueness and vulgar transactional nature of such aid is what irks traditional PIF (colonial and post-colonial) patrons even if it does not bother local elites.