Demonstrators and lawmakers rally against U.S. President Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk as they disrupt the federal government, including dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development, which administers foreign aid approved by Congress, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Feb. 5.J. Scott Applewhite/The Associated Press
Sean Irwin is an associate professor at the School of Business at Royal Roads University.
The Trump administration’s moves to dismantle its foreign aid programs have been swift and drastic. Most of the staff of USAID, the country’s largest aid agency, have been put on leave, and there are plans to lay off the vast majority of the 10,000 workers, leaving just 290 positions. Vital programs around the world have been shuttered, including programs that help low-income people access food, shelter, clean water, and life-saving medication. While the issue is before the courts and some exceptions have now been granted, chaos has nonetheless descended on the world of international assistance.
While I didn’t find these events surprising, I expected a greater outcry in the media and from the public. Perhaps it is somewhat expected given the numerous policy changes over the past few weeks that have upended decades of norms and institutional functioning, but the dismantling of foreign aid may prove to be a tragedy of global proportions. This is also not just an American problem – Pierre Poilievre, who is likely to become Canada’s next prime minister, has highlighted foreign aid as one of the first things on his chopping block. The low priority of international assistance among politicians, and it seems the general public alike, highlights how little people understand or appreciate it.
The primary reason for international assistance is the moral imperative. Being rich or poor is primarily driven by luck, with the largest determinant being the randomness of where we are born. For anyone who has travelled, this is self-evident. We in the West should also acknowledge that historically, and in many ways today, our wealth is the result of exploitation of other parts of the world. Providing international aid is a small gesture toward addressing the inherent unfairness of the global economic system.
But there are very important strategic reasons for international assistance as well. Perhaps most importantly, it helps make the countries in the West more secure. By reducing poverty and insecurity, we take away some of the key underlying drivers of violence, including international terrorism. Our prosperity is also put at risk when we cut foreign aid. Countries that view us positively are more likely to provide a friendly environment for our businesses, entrepreneurs and investors. Aid can also help reduce pressure for immigration, which is useful as the U.S., and increasingly Canada, seek to reduce immigration numbers. Helping other countries become safer and have greater economic opportunities reduces reasons for people in those countries to leave. Perhaps the most personal and direct benefit of international assistance for the average person is safety and hospitality when they are abroad. The advantages of wearing a maple leaf on your backpack did not just come from Canadians saying please and thank you a lot.
Providing support to other countries is also a very effective geopolitical tool. The process of gaining a seat on the security council, signing a trade agreement, obtaining a supporting vote at the UN or other decision-making body, and even looking for allies in military operations can all become more likely with international assistance.
At the global scale, international assistance has had a profound effect. Life expectancy is higher today than it was even at the start of the 21st century, including in most of the world’s poorest countries. While poverty remains stubbornly entrenched in some places, global wealth has grown significantly, as anyone who has recently been to Lagos, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro or Nairobi would attest. Without discounting the horrors of the wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, and elsewhere, we are on average safer from violence than we have ever been. The world has also become significantly more democratic than in the past. International assistance has been central to these achievements, and while many of these gains are under threat today, the withdrawal of ethically driven international assistance from the West would remove a key engine of this progress.
The stop-work order for USAID is already placing people in the world at risk. Millions are losing access to HIV/AIDS medication, work preventing the spread of mpox is halting, and people recovering from disaster or war – including in places where stability is very much in the American and Canadian national interest, such as Syria – will face a disease and food-security crisis. It is essential that the public understands the importance of international assistance. While it should be driven primarily and overwhelmingly by the moral imperative, in a world that operates on realpolitik, we should also not forget that it generates very tangible and robust returns on investment.