Letter to the editor: We’re losing ground to China
· The Washington TimesOPINION:
Across the developing world, the U.S. is losing ground to China — and we are largely allowing it to happen.
As Washington pulls back from long-term development and economic engagement, Beijing and other rivals are stepping in to expand their influence.
I saw firsthand how this system worked from inside government. As the U.S. Agency for International Development senior coordinator for foreign assistance at the State Department, I helped oversee the coordination of tens of billions of dollars in U.S. programs across more than 20 agencies. That system is now being dismantled and, with it, one of America’s most effective tools of influence.
For decades, U.S. foreign assistance was not simply about aid. It also built relationships, strengthened institutions and shaped the environments in which American interests operate. It gave countries a reason to work with us and align, at least in part, with our priorities.
Those relationships do not remain in place when engagement disappears. They get replaced.
China has spent years expanding its presence across Africa, Latin America and Asia through infrastructure investment, development finance and long-term partnerships. Other actors, such as Turkey and Gulf states, are also stepping forward. The result is a reconfiguration of influence.
The shift changes the nature of U.S. foreign policy. Development has long been a tool that allows the U.S. to engage constructively, beyond military or transactional relationships. As that tool weakens, U.S. engagement risks becoming narrower and more episodic.
Great power competition is not only about military strength or economic size. It is also about presence, relationships and the ability to shape outcomes over time. China understands this. The United States once did as well.
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None of this is inevitable. America still has enormous advantages, but its influence must be maintained.
If the U.S. continues to pull back from sustained engagement in the developing world, then it will not simply reduce its footprint. It also will cede ground to those willing to invest in long-term relationships and shape the global environment.
The ways in which they do so may not align with our interests.
STEVEN E. HENDRIX
Waupaca, Wisconsin
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