The USID authority of the US government from Foreign Aid -USA could have enormous people on the western allies and their ability to influence developing countries, has warned a number of experts.
It could also create a gap that China wants to fill – the way the Trump government was recently complained about in Panama, where the government was ready to register with Beijing’s characteristic infrastructure campaign, known as The Belt and Road Initiative.
In the past two weeks, dozens of high -ranking USAid officials have been put on vacation, thousands of contractors have been released and freezing for billions of dollars of humanitarian aid for other countries.
The Tech billionaire Elon Musk has referred to USAID as “a criminal organization” that is closed after high -ranking civil servants refused to hand over classified data to the state efficiency agency, which is set up by the new US administration, which Musk operates.
In the late Tuesday, USAID announced that almost all overseas employees – officer for the public service and foreign services – will be paid on Friday and that the return of employees outside the United States would take place within one month.
With over 40 billion US dollars in the United States, USAID is seen as a definition of soft power, which has an influence in developing countries where Washington needs partners. The agency was created in 1961 by the then President John F. Kennedy in the Cold War and was considered a path to counteract the influence of the Soviet Union.
Today his supporters argue that his mission is to limit the Chinese influence, especially in the global south, which is connected to the belt and street plan.
The withdrawal of the United States would almost immediately put pressure on other countries such as Canada, which according to the Federal Government estimates $ 15.5 billion through 21 organizational efforts 2022-23 to get into the emptiness. Such a scenario would develop against the political background – in this country – a conservative promise to reduce the budget for foreign help after the next elections.
But the actions of the Trump administration are already felt, experts say.
“USAI has already disappeared from a few landscapes, only through the act of the executive regulation, which hired the work on existing programs,” said Noam Unger, director of the initiative for sustainable development and resilience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Congregations that benefit from health programs and food aid are particularly the effects, said Unger and only adds the severity of the cuts over time.
“You will influence and cloud in the United States, but you will also have an impact on us-economic and national security over time, given transnational threats that with underdevelopment worldwide, with conflicts, corruption, with humans and drugs are connected.
Among the places where the freezing of aids can be felt most, Ukraine, on the USA, has invested over 874 million dollars in the USA to maintain Ukraine economy during the war and the basics for a strong And to lay rapid economic recovery at the end of the war.
Rachel Beatty Riedl, professor and director of the Center for Global Democracy at Cornell University in ITHACA, says that the costs for retreat to humanitarian commitments are “with clear costs both at home and abroad”.
Since then, security, stability and prosperity in the USA have been bound by the depths of the Cold War with the development developments around the world.
“The sub -sections of long -term relationships with partner countries around the world weaken the diplomacy and the ability of America to compete with other global powers such as Russia and China to compete for critical resources, markets and geostrategic alliances against radical extremists or other threats to the national interests of the United States” in an explanation.
Riedl also questioned whether the move of the administration, to reduce USAID, was legally possible without the consent of the congress.
From a geopolitical perspective, Unger said that the door would be opened to China to get in when it has the economic capacity.
“When the USA essentially complete the field or battlefield if you want – in terms of soft power and economic influence in the form of foreign support and development financing – that is an emptiness,” said Unger. “China and others would like to try to fill it.”
Before his inauguration, US President Donald Trump would not rule out the use of military violence in Panama and Greenland in order to promote American interests.
USAID has been working in Panama for decades, but recently the implementation of the reforms of the judicial system.
The country was also aggressive by Beijing, where companies from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong have acquired important port facilities. China’s national security laws, including Hong Kong companies, can oblige the Chinese government to support the secret services and military operations.
In 2018, Panama decided to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative – a policy that the government of this country has now signaled that it has ended after a visit to the newly shaped Foreign Minister Marco Rubio.
The Panama Canal, which was built by the United States more than a century ago, has been owned by Panama since 1999.
Trump has complained about the increasing Chinese influence on the strategic waterway.
In a similar way, China was interested in recruiting Greenland, the semi -autonomous Arctic island, rich in minerals with rare natural goods.
China has bought rare earth almins, opened a satellite floor and research station, tried to offer the construction and financing of a massive three-air-air-port infrastructure project, and tried to acquire a deep water port.
The United States used soft power to either block or slow each of the projects – something that could be limited in the future.
“I think over time, the (new) administration will try to explain their national security and foreign policy approaches in a more coherent way,” said Unger.
