No helping hand: the U.S. has changed its mind about funding Central Asia
The U.S. Agency for International Development USAID (the organization's activities have been terminated and banned in the Russian Federation) has stopped its work. In particular, this affected the countries of Central Asia, where the US and the EU have recently become active. For 30 years, the states of the region received money for social, educational, media and healthcare projects. Against this background, the Russian Federation and China, which Western countries have been trying to push out of the region for so long, may increase their influence. Details - in the material of "Izvestia".
Cherry apple
"We are in the process of liquidating the U.S. Agency for International Development USAID. This is not a wormy apple, but just a lump of worms ... There is no apple, so we need to get rid of everything," said Ilon Musk, who runs the US government's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
According to him, USAID is beyond recovery. Earlier he accused the agency of funding the development of biological weapons, and it also became known that the heads of the USAID security service refused to provide classified information to Musk's agency.
The site and the USAID account in the social network X have already stopped working amid the freezing of aid programs by the Donald Trump administration. Democrats are concerned that the US President may transfer the work of the agency to the State Department or it will be liquidated as an independent agency. According to them, the head of state has no legal authority to shield the agency, which is funded by Congress, its work is vital to national security.
The order to freeze USAID international aid programs for 90 days Donald Trump signed on the day of his inauguration along with 39 other decrees. After that, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a directive that prohibits the State Department and USAID from providing foreign aid until the programs are reviewed.
Previously, about 90% of U.S. foreign aid was provided by these two agencies. One thing is clear so far - the measures taken may indicate the creation of a scaled-down version of USAID. Formal abolition requires congressional approval, and if it fails, the agency will still significantly reduce its activities and may become more politicized, as it will lose the ability to make decisions on its own.
They wanted to strengthen themselves
In Central Asia, USAID has for 30 years funded social, educational, media, health, and public administration programs.
Recently, the U.S. and EU have been actively flirting with Central Asian countries in an effort to push Russia and China out of the region. U.S. and European senior officials and diplomats have made frequent visits to these states. Prior to the Trump administration, Washington reported that the G7 countries were ready to invest up to $200 billion in infrastructure projects in the region, the same amount the U.S. was ready to allocate to create new jobs in Central Asia.
In 2023, Washington allocated $6 million for "development of democracy in Central Asia," and grants to non-governmental organizations ranged from $10,000 to $50,000. Significant funds are also invested in support of opinion leaders - bloggers and journalists.
Donald Lu, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, said at the time that Washington "has an important struggle in South and Central Asia." "It's a struggle to compete with the PRC, to counter Russian and Chinese disinformation, and to prevent terrorist activity," he explained.
The U.S. sought to strengthen its influence in the region through so-called soft power - by spreading its ideas about how society should be organized. The main tools were non-governmental organizations of various kinds, cultural and educational projects, and the media.
The previous U.S. administration discussed projects related to the mining and processing of rare earth metals, transportation and logistics, agricultural production and clean energy.
In addition, the U.S. and the European Union have been actively interested in the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor ("Middle Corridor"), which links container rail freight networks from China to the EU via Central Asia, the Caucasus, Turkey and Eastern Europe.
If the regional states were to receive active U.S. investments in transport infrastructure, their interaction with Russia could be minimized, and Moscow would risk losing a considerable amount of freight traffic and other options for interaction.
In the current situation, the niche in Central Asia vacated by USAID's withdrawal can be occupied by other players. In particular, China, which is actively investing in educational programs in the region. Russia can increase its influence by expanding cultural cooperation and strengthening political ties. This is possible if Moscow offers alternatives, taking into account the interests of Central Asian countries.
What experts think
Razil Guzaerov, a junior researcher at the Middle and Post-Soviet East Department of the Institute of National Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted in a conversation with Izvestia that for a long time the West, realizing the importance of cooperation with Central Asia for Russia, has been trying to sway the states of the region to its side.
- The main goal of Western politicians was to persuade Central Asian states to start adhering to anti-Russian sanctions under the threat of secondary restrictions, which intimidated the countries of the region. At the same time, the West has not succeeded in completely severing ties between Russia and Central Asia. On the contrary, trade relations are only growing," the political scientist explained.
Rustam Burnashev, a professor at the Kazakh-German University, told Izvestia that USAID has provided funding to Central Asian countries in many areas, including economic, political and social projects.
- U.S. funding has always been very seriously ideologically loaded. This is the social and political sphere. The funding concerned a limited group of people in the countries of the region, so we cannot say that the change caused any reaction among the population. Only those who were connected with this aid or are engaged in the study of political and social processes," the interlocutor believes.
According to him, it is still unclear what will happen with USAID.
- There can be no substitute for it, because it is ideologically loaded. It confronts Russia's and China's policies quite seriously," the expert emphasized.
The expert added that neither China nor Russia will do so, because it does not correspond to their ideas.
- If these trends in the U.S. continue or grow, this segment of support will be very seriously transformed. The economic ties of countries in the region to China and Russia are fundamental. Even the sanctions imposed on Russia, although they have an impact, the effect is spot-on. The interaction of Central Asian countries with China and Russia has not weakened over the past three years. It has slightly changed, and in some areas it has even strengthened," summarized the analyst.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
