USAID in NED (National Endowment for Democracy) sta v svojem bistvu dve izpostavi ameriškega State departmenta, ki počneta iste stvari kot CIA, vendar na bolj “subtilen način”. Obe organizaciji s skupaj več deset milijardnim proračunom (USAID 42.8 mlr $ v FY 2025  in NED 330 mio $ v FY 2023)) se pretvarjata, da pomagata državam tretjega sveta z razvojno pomočjo oziroma pri “vzpostavljanju demokratičnih institucij”, v bistvu pa prek financiranja projektov in prek financiranja nevladnih organizacij in medijev izvažata ameriški vpliv na politike in politične režime tretjih držav, vključno s spodbujanjem nemirov in prevratov. USAID ima dolgo zgodovino političnega vmešavanja širom držav v razvoju, vključno z Afganistanom, Ukrajino, Gruzijo, Perujem, Kubo, …, Srbijo (več kasneje). NED, katerega poslanstvo je “assists those abroad who are working to build democratic institutions and spread democratic values“, se fokusira predvsem na medije in težko boste našli državo, kjer NED ni financiral različnih medijskih projektov (tudi pri nas jih) z namenom vplivanja na “pravilen način poročanja” oziroma “širjenje demokratičnih vrednot”. V Grayzone je dobra analiza delovanja NED.

Da sta se Musk in Trump spravila nad USAID in NED (USAID je že praktično zaprt, NED sledi), je dobra novica za tiste, ki si ne želijo ameriškega političnega vmešavanja. Vprašanje je le, zakaj sta se spravila na njiju in zakaj ju hočeta uničiti. Razlagi sta vsaj dve. Prva je, da se se Trumpova administracija ni odpovedala vlogi globalnega hegemona, čeprav to trdi, pač pa je zgolj spremenila način uveljavljanja svoje moči. Te ne namerava več uveljavljati “subtilno” prek financiranja nevladnih organizacij, medijev in novinarjev, pač pa neposredno prek Trumpovega “bully” pristopa oziroma neposrednega izsiljevanja “ena na ena”. Trump meni, da bo tako privarčeval nekaj deset milijard dolarjev letno. In Musk je zadolžen za kleščenje stroškov.

Druga razlaga pa je, da bi Trump rad izgnal demokratski duh iz ameriških politik. USAID in NED sta po njegovem mnenju (ob tem, da jima očita kriminal in koruptivnost) širila demokratsko ideologijo, vključno s feminizmom in woke kulturo. In Trump si je zadal kot enega izmed ciljev, da prekine z vsemi afirmativnimi akcijami, ki kakorkoli dišijo po kulturnem liberalizmu.

Spodaj je dober komentar v MoA na to temo.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced to reconfigure U.S. foreign policy from a unipolar view to a multi-polar concept of strong states.

But, as Brian McDonald warns, that does not mean that the U.S. has given up hope of being the biggest dog in town:

A Washington that stops pretending to rule the world and starts playing smart could be a tougher competitor for Beijing and Moscow than the one we’ve seen desperately clinging to a crumbling ‘rules-based order.’ The era of unipolarity might be over, but the game is far from done.‘The game is far from done’ can also be said about Elon Musk’s raid of USAID:

The Trump administration and its allies moved to tighten control of the U.S. Agency for International Development over the weekend, signaling an intent to act forcefully to bring the U.S. foreign policy apparatus in line with the president’s “America First” approach to engaging with the world.
…
Over the weekend, Musk repeatedly denigrated USAID without offering evidence that those working there were corrupt. On X, he called the long-standing government agency “evil” and a “viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.”“USAID is a criminal organization,” he added. “Time for it to die.”

Established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, USAID oversees a vast portfolio of programs designed to provide humanitarian relief, combat poverty, support global health and more.

The rarely spoken of ‘and more’ part of USAID involves billion of dollars for regime change operations with the help of ‘civil society’ manipulations via U.S. subsidized media and Non-Government Organizations.

The Trump administration will kill parts of that and reintegrate the rest of USAID into the state department. The CIA offshot National Endowment for Democracy (NED) will likely meet a similar fate.

In their current configuration USAID and NED are under institutionalized congressional oversight. Taking away their independence by putting them under executive control will increase the White House’ power. Neither is likely to completely stop their dirty work but it will become more difficult to detect and expose it.

Trump’s MAGA is not against doing regime changes in foreign countries. Its main beef with USAID is about its abuse by the Democrats which pushed it to promote their ideologies and to incite foreign societies against Trump.

In a world where the U.S. is no longer trying to be the unilateral power, regime change may not longer be needed that much. In a multi-polar world the U.S. does no longer need to create and confront adversaries but can restrict itself to coerce allies to pay up via tariffs, weapon sales or otherwise. Pax Americana may well become Tax Americana.

Vir: Moon of Alabama