USAID: Soft Power and Doing The Right Thing
Ensuring human rights are respected around the world is an end goal in and of itself, and a soft power bonus for the United States
“With great power comes great responsibility.”
If you’ve ever watched a Spider-Man movie, you’ve heard those words before.
We attribute them to Uncle Ben, the kind-hearted moral compass that inspires Peter Parker on his journey to becoming a masked hero of vigilante justice. But perhaps it’s better to attribute them to Stan Lee, the writer of the comic series who introduced a similar quote as a narration rather than a line of dialogue.
Or perhaps we should go back even further and recognize the spirit behind the quote rather than the specific modern wording.
The notion that power comes with an obligation of morality is not new. Every ancient myth or fable about the grandeur that comes with wealth and royal privilege describes the pitfalls of tyranny.
In our greatest and most beloved stories, a King who rules unfairly is usually viewed as an evil who must be overthrown. By contrast, Kings who humble themselves and put the needs of others first are the good guys.
It’s like the Sheriff of Nottingham versus Robin Hood.
We have words for people who use their power and authority to lord over others without offering anything in return. We call them abusers, tyrants, oppressors and despots. We recognize them—virtually universally—as monstrous.
Most of us prefer powerful people to, at the very least, appear to be charitable and act as a force of good in the world.
When we see tyrants in action, enriching themselves at the expense of the people who have no power to resist them, most reasonable people recognize it as a bad thing.
We know what exploitation and unfairness look like. It’s a deeply ingrained instinct tied to survival; it even appears in our primate relatives. We are a cooperative species and we depend on mutual assistance rather than individual luck to prosper.
When someone doesn’t abide by this simple rule and hoards wealth and power for their own selfish gain, we quite understandably distrust that person. They lose credibility in our eyes, and we lose motivation to work with them.
Here’s the fun bit: This goes beyond interpersonal conflicts between individual people. It goes to the heart of the idea of the social contract, which is the foundation of every government’s legitimacy and authority. When the social contract is broken, democracy falls apart.
Without the consent of the governed, a government cannot exist. Authoritarians try to obtain consent by force rather than willing agreement, which is why authoritarian governments inevitably fall apart. You can only push people so far before they revolt.
This dynamic exists at the international level as a conflict between countries—and the same rules apply.
If a powerful nation abuses and exploits others to enrich itself, and it doesn't work to benefit the people of other countries that need help, that country loses its credibility.
The offer of assistance—from a privileged nation to a less wealthy or embattled one—is not necessarily purely altruistic; often it is done to improve relations and increase influence, which is known as ‘Soft Power.’
As they say, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Or, in this case, with humanitarian assistance rather than the threat of military force.
Soft power is often mistaken for weakness.
It isn’t weakness. It’s a mark of intelligence.
The difference between hard power and soft power is the difference between forcing someone to hand you money at the end of a gun, or a friend freely offering you money when you’re down on your luck.
One is a threat, the other is an alliance born of mutual benefit and goodwill.
Hard power is a show of force. In international terms, a good example is the overwhelming military and technological advantage of the United States. It’s the ability to throw your weight around and back it up—it frightens those around you into compliance.
There is a place for hard power, don’t get me wrong. It’s as much a promise of security for your allies as much as a threat of destruction against your enemies. There is something to be said for the use of hard power in international diplomacy when it’s appropriate to do so.
But just like it isn’t always appropriate to hold a person at gun point—in fact, it’s quite rarely appropriate to do that—it’s generally a bad idea to try and keep the entire world under your thumb by force.
The American military is impressive, don’t get me wrong. But it isn’t nearly big or powerful enough to take on the entire world at once. The war in Afghanistan was a good reminder that, contrary to the propaganda line, the U.S. can’t just sweep across a country like wildfire and wipe it out.
Also, the costs of that war, both in monetary expenditure and the loss of human life, are astronomical. The loss of benefits and assistance for veterans with Trump’s bullshit DOGE cuts are a slap in the face for American soldiers.
The military industrial complex won big during the war. The American people lost.
Insurgencies are harder to fight than people think. Also, you know—there are rules to how wars are fought that kind of get in the way.
So, while hard power has its uses, if it’s the only tool you have then you’re in trouble.
That’s where soft power comes into play. You can’t take on the entire world in an actual bloody conflict…but if you have strong alliances, you don’t need to.
It’s better to have a lot of friends with mutual trust, shared values, and a genuine desire for your prosperity than to have many enemies who will turn on you the second you no longer have the upper hand.
So, with that point clarified, let’s talk about what soft power looks like.
Hard power reflects concrete strength; military, population, and the cold hard numbers of the economy.
Soft power is a reflection of a nation’s more ephemeral influence. Culture. Reputation. The face it presents to the world and the reactions that it draws.
Soft power is the velvet glove over the iron hand; the sugar that sweetens the pot. It’s the kindness that sets deals in stone. In Game of Thrones terms, it’s Margaery Tyrell bringing toys to orphans and sweet talking the common people into loving and accepting her as Queen.
Yes, I dropped another Game of Thrones reference in this newsletter. No, I will not be apologizing.
In terms of international diplomacy, soft power is a method of increasing your influence and improving relations. Often it comes in the form of media, such as news reports or entertainment.
It is, in effect, a demonstration of how strong your propaganda game is. It’s the things you do to ensure that countries around the world have a positive impression of you and your actions.
This applies both to peace time and to times of war. Offering aid to the civillians of a town you capture on the warfront is an example of blending hard and soft power. If you’ve ever heard the phrase ‘winning hearts and minds,’ you understand what soft power is.
With countries as large and wealthy as the United States, soft power often comes in the form of humanitarian aid, such as disaster relief or funding for human rights initiatives in foreign nations.
You see this kind of soft power used by large nations all the time.
For a recent example, when wildfires broke out in California not too long ago, Mexico and Canada sent in firefighters and waterbombers to help combat the fires and save American lives; this is a great example of soft power in action.
Having networks of mutual aid for nightmare scenarios like this helps to strengthen ties between countries and make alliances more robust. It gives the people a favourable impression of the countries offering assistance, and it helps take pressure off of local governments to manage the disaster.
The people of California depend on outside help from us to keep the fires at bay, and so the United States offers assistance to Canada in turn when wildfire season breaks out on the Western side of the country.
This is just one of the ways in which our countries have formed strong links over the decades of partnership that we have under our belts.
Well…had. That relationship has since broken down.
The American entertainment industry—particularly Hollywood—is another great weapon in America’s soft power arsenal. Movies and shows that showcase American life in a positive light help influence public perception in other countries.
Did you know that human rights organisations sometimes smuggle clips and episodes of American television shows into North Korea? It’s a method of showing people under that despotic regime what a better life could look like.
But by far the largest and most reliable tool of soft power the U.S. had to work with was the U.S. Agency for International Development—also known as USAID.
Unfortunately, it’s also the biggest target of the anti-woke brigade.
In a world dominated by the internet, a powerful nation voluntarily sacrificing its greatest soft power asset is certifiably nuts.
Back in the day, a nation pulling funding from a medical aid nonprofit in Ethiopia would make local news, but wouldn’t spread far outside of the country. But now, that story hits the internet like a freight train; the entire world knows that humans are suffering.
That’s a real story, by the way. Here’s a quote:
"We don't even want to open our eyes to see the disaster that's coming," he says.
For 30 years, Hailu has worked with HIV-positive children in a war-torn part of Ethiopia. He's a program manager at the Organization for Social Services, Health and Development — an Ethiopian nonprofit that used to get 70% of its funding from the US. —NPR article by Gabrielle Emanuel
When Trump froze foreign aid, they stopped receiving their funding. And when USAID was targeted by Elon Musk, the program that funded this program was axed.
Consider what that means to the international community. The United States was viewed as generous and honourable, giving aid to struggling communities and saving lives all around the world.
That’s quite a positive image to have. It drives countries to want to work with you in the hopes that you will assist them in times of need. It’s not only the right thing to do, but it is genuinely difficult to overstate the value of this reputation in diplomatic terms.
Then, all of a sudden, the newly elected President of the United States decides to yank the funding without warning, leaving hundreds, thousands, millions of suffering people in the lurch.
He publicly calls it fraud. His government holds press releases where they lie about the things that USAID was funding, mocking the idea of giving humanitarian aid and funding human rights initiatives.
Meanwhile, communities around the world are in shock.
To quote from the same article I linked above:
Without HIV medications for his young clients, Hailu worries the virus will come raging back — and medical experts agree. Days to weeks after an HIV-positive person stops taking their medications, they start falling ill not only from AIDS but also from other infections that take advantage of their fragile health.
"Very soon," he says with a sigh. "We will sadly witness the loss of life of many children and adolescents."
And who can they blame for that but the United States?
If you have empathy for the suffering of human beings—I sincerely hope that you do—this is heart-wrenching. People will die because of this. Children will die because of this. And not just in Ethiopia, either—over 100 nations around the globe had programs directly funded by USAID.
It was one of the world’s largest aid agencies. Look at the statistics for what it accomplished back in 2023. It funded everything from medical relief and research, emergency food assistance and global development and infrastructure programs.
It made people’s lives better. Hell—it was even a major customer of American farmers, purchasing mass orders of food for its global efforts to combat famine. Some farmers are facing bankruptcy without the money brought in by USAID and its programs.
Not to mention the loss of funding for American non-profits and other agencies that depended on USAID to keep their missions afloat, too.
People see that. People around the globe see it.
By dismantling USAID, America has lost an enourmous amount of clout and influence. In fact, its reputation has gone from positive to absolutely reviled.
Not only is Trump’s government destroying lives and callously leaving people to suffer and die, but they’re obliterating the carefully-cultivated soft power toolkit that has kept the country on top for decades.
With great power comes great responsibility.
This is what it looks like when that responsibility is shirked.
Trump and his cronies don’t care about human lives, we already knew that. But now we can see that they also don’t understand the importance of soft power in terms of ensuring their nation’s success.
This makes sense for Trump; he views every interaction as transactional, and he doesn’t see the merit in any deal that doesn’t offer him tangible, material gains. He’s not happy unless he’s got a clear victory where the other side loses.
Mutual benefit doesn’t make any sense to him. In his mind, only losers accept that.
As America’s soft power falters, so too does its reputation on the world stage. So too does its alliances. And as the United States gives up its soft power and withdraws humanitarian aid, it leaves a gap that other countries can and absolutely will fill. After the Myanmar earthquake, it was China and Russia that stepped in to offer help before the U.S. even arrived.
The goodwill America has built up over decades of good work has begun to drain away, faster and faster with every move Trump makes.
He only cares about hard power. He doesn’t need friends; he only needs a gun and an open hand.
As I said in the beginning of this article, we have words for that kind of leadership.
We have words for people who use their power and authority to lord over others without offering anything in return. We call them abusers, tyrants, oppressors and despots. We recognize them—virtually universally—as monstrous.
Solidarity wins.
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The fascists and theocrats mantra is, 'empathy is for losers', - only the outcome of their disdain and cruelty towards those humans they consider to be of a lesser order of humanity will be that they are the ones who have lost everything that is of value.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I know I've heard that statement somewhere...