Source: The New York Times | by Steven Lee Myers
America’s budget crisis at home is forcing the first significant cuts in overseas aid in nearly two decades, a retrenchment that officials and advocates say reflects the country’s diminishing ability to influence the world.
As lawmakers scramble to trim the swelling national debt, both the Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate have proposed slashing financing for the State Department and its related aid agencies at a time of desperate humanitarian crises and uncertain political developments. The proposals have raised the specter of deep cuts in food and medicine for Africa, in relief for disaster-affected places like Pakistan and Japan, in political and economic assistance for the new democracies of the Middle East, and even for the Peace Corps.
The financial crunch threatens to undermine a foreign policy described as “smart power” by President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, one that emphasizes diplomacy and development as a complement to American military power. It also would begin to reverse the increase in foreign aid that President George W. Bush supported after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as part of an effort to combat the roots of extremism and anti-American sentiment, especially in the most troubled countries.
Given the relatively small foreign aid budget — it accounts for 1 percent of federal spending over all — the effect of the cuts could be disproportional.
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To know more about the Gstaad Project and why we believe the US should not cut UN funding, click here. We believe UN and humanitarian aid workers on the ground in Africa and other areas of the world are true heroes… Our new book “Heroes of the United Nations: men and women who made the world a better place” is now available online at Create Space, Amazon, and Barnes and Nobles.
As the Huffington Post points out:
This is hardly the GOP’s first threat to defund the U.N. Last month, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) introduced similar legislation. Earlier this year, House Republicans tried to cut off a U.N. climate science body as part of a large EPA cuts package. The U.S. currently provides 22 percent of the U.N.’s budget.
Update 10/12/2011: According to UN Wire “Clinton would recommend a veto of Ros-Lehtinen’s bill”:
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that she would recommend that President Barack Obama veto legislation proposed by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to change the way the U.S. contributes to the United Nations. In a letter, Clinton said the bill would curtail U.S. participation in the world body, damage long-standing treaty commitments and jeopardize troop safety overseas.