POSTPONED: "Lectures of Opportunity: USAID is Downright Disruptive..."

USAID is Downright Disruptive...

Most Americans conceptualize development assistance to other countries as something that we do that is “nice to do”, however many people express concern over the value it adds to our foreign policy, particularly in light of domestic concerns. These are valid concerns, yet aid provides more than just compassion for the citizens of our allies in less developed states. There is a realist element to development assistance that is rarely discussed but incredibly pertinent in a time of resurgence of great power competition, social impacts due to climate change, urbanization, and persistence of VEOs: the use of development assistance as a disruptor. It’s time for a reframing of how we talk about development assistance provided by state donors, such as the United States Government. Our adversaries are using official development assistance (ODA) and other forms of aid to push into developing countries and create alliances even as the US is in retreat from this form of foreign engagement. This talk will discuss how USAID currently operates, the importance of aid allocation for development assistance decisions made by nations, and proposes some new ways of approaching development assistance to counter efforts by Russia and China to use development assistance to shift power in an increasingly multipolar world.

Talk is hosted by the Climate and Human Security Studies Group (C&HSSG).

About this Lecture

Lectures of Opportunity offer U.S. Naval War College (NWC) students, faculty, and staff an opportunity to learn more about national and international socio-political subjects that may be of relevance to the NWC community.