About 40 University of Michigan students and community members gathered in the Ford School of Public Policy Monday afternoon to listen to Public Policy lecturer Amy Harris and Bama Athreya, former deputy assistant administrator in the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Inclusive Growth, Partnerships and Innovation, discuss the implications of President Donald Trump’s administration’s recent dismantling of foreign aid and the changing role of the U.S. in foreign policy.
Athreya began the talk by discussing the history of U.S. foreign aid, which began during the Marshall Plan under former president Harry Truman in 1948.
“One big realignment happened as a result of World War 2,” Athreya said. “Not only were global economies and politics reshaped, new alliances were formed post World War 2. New national boundaries were drawn. “And in the midst of all of this, President Harry S. Truman announced what would be the predecessor of what would become our International Development assistance program, and that was the Marshall Plan.”
Athreya then said the dismantling of USAID correlates to a change in American values regarding foreign assistance as the country shifts from a period of heavy foreign involvement following the Cold War to the Trump administration’s minimum foreign involvement plan.
“This crisis is starting here,” Athreya said. “The crisis is precipitated by the decision of a U.S. administration to dismantle a long-standing foreign agency. This is going to have ripple effects throughout the world that have already begun. That is really why we need to have a conversation today about values.”
As of April 14, the Trump administration has terminated 83% of USAID programs. Athreya explained how many of the cut USAID programs helped to support the rule of law and anti-corruption worldwide.
“One of the notable things that happened as a result of the freeze on foreign assistance that actually was fairly widely reported was that we had been through implementing partners, paying salaries for guards that were guarding ISIS fighters and those guards walked off the job because they stopped getting paid,” Athreya said.
Harris and Athreya then discussed the future of global aid and the suspension effect of global development. Athreya highlighted that global polycrisis, different longstanding crises such as the climate crisis feeding into each other and exacerbating each situation, has continued to emerge.
“When we look at these polycrisis, our national security establishment agrees,” Athreya said. “Our Department of Defense and allies across national security agree. We need development to address these polycrisis because these types of crises can reciprocate wars and conflicts. If we don’t get under the root cause, we end up with more war and conflict in the world.”
Harris encouraged the audience to look deeper into the values of development and adopt a new outlook on foreign aid.
“I would encourage you to look at success or impact in terms of international development, beyond simply a financial return on investment,” Harris said. “Development tries to do this, which is often really hard to quantify. How do you monetize the protection of human rights? How do you monetize the reduction of corruption?”
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, LSA sophomore Lakshay Sood, who attended the event, said he was impressed by the speaker’s work with multiple topics..
“I thought it was very impactful. I am very impressed with a lot of her qualifications and work,” Sood said. “She’s managed a really big team while protecting democracy, women’s rights and child trafficking.”
Sood also said he was surprised at the effects of cuts on foreign aid, specifically the impact of the recently developed Department of Government Efficiency.
“I am just surprised by how big of an impact the DOGE cuts have had on foreign aid,” Sood said. “The most shocking thing is how every three minutes an adult is dying because they’re not getting aid.”
Daily Staff Contributor Gia Vernma can be reached at giavernma@umich.edu.
