It appears that the Trump Administration is trying to restrict or eliminate some $2 to $4 billion in spending on foreign aid, judging from this article in the New York Times by one of my OPC Foundation winners, Edward Wong. The State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development are the primary conduits for this aid.
This comes at a time when China is on the move globally with its One Road, One Belt initiative. It is making low-cost loans and building infrastructure virtually everywhere outside of North America. Although there are clear risks in taking money from the Chinese, most governments appear to look at Beijing as a source of wealth and economic growth.
But cutting off U.S. foreign assistance, which is just a fraction of the money that Beijing is spreading around the world, we undermine our own interests. We want people in the world to see the United States as a source of support, particularly if they live in democracies or are trying in some way to become more democratic. And some of the foreign asssistance money is clearly is our own interests when it comes to combating narcotics or global health or peacekeeping activities.
Trump’s Office of Management and Budget is the agency seeking to cut off the money. Trump’s thinking apparently is that we are wasting money on foreigners. Our foreign assistance programs have not been spectacularly effective, but they are important in securing American objectives. Take the case of the three countries in Central America (Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador) where many migrants are fleeing. A few million American dollars might make a difference in creating political stability or in addressing the problems of climate change that are forcing people to flee their land.
With all the other headlines raging about U.S.-China trade and the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, it might be easy to miss this story. But it’s something that should be reversed. We have solid reasons to provide foreign assistance, and one of them is to maintain our geopolitical standing vis a vis a surging China.
