It turns out the US government does important work around the world; work that, when suddenly cut off, leaves real people suffering.
The 90-day freeze on United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other US foreign assistance programmes has caused widespread disruption, halting 7,000 projects across multiple agencies and jeopardising critical global aid efforts, including HIV treatment, refugee support and clean energy initiatives. But beyond the immediate impact of this action, it is clearly part of a larger plan to dismantle and take a wrecking ball to the entire US foreign assistance project.
The administration's outrageous attempt to dismantle USAID entirely -- including shutting down its website, closing its headquarters, forcing immediate recall of staff and taking unilateral action to eliminate the agency -- has sparked constitutional and legal challenges. US Congressman Jamie Raskin has condemned the move as illegal and unconstitutional, emphasising that USAID was created by Congress, not the executive branch, and cannot be dissolved without congressional approval. These reckless actions undermine US global leadership, disrupt lifesaving programmes and threaten America's credibility as a trusted international partner.
Case in point here in Thailand: healthcare services for 80,000 refugees in at least eight camps spread along the border with Myanmar have been suspended, leaving pregnant women, emergency cases and chronically ill patients all at risk. Human Rights Watch spokesman Sunai Phasuk called the freeze "devastating". The effects of this aid freeze are not limited to Thailand. In Afghanistan, the US decision to slash humanitarian assistance has exacerbated an already dire crisis, pushing millions towards famine and leaving international organisations scrambling to fill the void. In Africa, cuts to health progammes have weakened efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria -- diseases that, if left unchecked, will impact the health of millions in many countries. USAID-administered programmes combating HIV and malaria in developing countries are estimated to prevent about 200,000 deaths per year.
We'll bet no one in the White House guessed that flipping this development aid switch would be the cause of this suffering on the other side of the planet. We're equally confident that even if they did understand enough to guess the consequences, they wouldn't particularly care.
But here's the thing. It's not just callous and cruel. It's stupid.
The truth is that foreign aid is an investment in stability, security and the very credibility of the American democratic way of life. The Republican administration has started a massive bonfire of social capital and goodwill that has taken generations to build. Much of the world has long had many worthy reasons not to fully trust the US. But if you travelled the world in the last 80 years, surprisingly, most of the time, you would encounter folks who trust and admire America and Americans thanks in no small part to the important work our citizens and our government have done to help folks around the world who need it.
Burning all of this social capital creates a vacuum. It weakens US commitment to democracy, human rights and global security, making the world a more volatile while making the US weaker and more isolated.
It's deeply ironic that many Americans who voted the administration into power are fond of flying big American flags and wearing hats that say, "Make America Great Again", when actions like these do the exact opposite.
If the goal is to truly "make America great", then abandoning our commitments to the world is the surest way to fail.
Chris Greacen is a senior expert in rural electrification with a focus on Asia and Africa. Peter du Pont is a former USAID official and current Co-CEO of a company that is actively working on clean energy issues across Asia. Both are US citizens.