Abstract
Abstract This article addresses two key questions concerning US foreign aid under the 45th US President, Donald Trump (2017–21): Did the Trump administration radically restructure the foreign aid apparatus of the US government amid the recent reemergence of China as a key state actor in international development and global governance? If so, how and under which conditions did the US, as the world’s largest foreign aid donor, deal with the new challenges posed by the expanding global reach of Chinese foreign aid and diplomacy? The core objective here is to look back at the Trump administration, particularly in its role in the US foreign aid apparatus vis-à-vis the reemergence of China as a global power and the decline of US influence abroad. This article maintains that the dominance of the US in the international development sector was under serious threat from two principal challenges: (1) the lack of coherent and credible strategy from the Trump administration amid the rapidly increasing influence of China as an aid donor country; and the (2) the declining legitimacy of the US a foreign aid donor due to the exclusionary and anti-globalization discourses of Trump vis-à-vis the perceived the decline of American power.
Highlights
Together with military power, a state’s foreign assistance and official finance programs constitute one of the key instruments for expanding its sphere of influence beyond its claimed territorial borders
The core objective here is to look back at the Trump administration, in its role in the United States (US) foreign aid apparatus vis-à-vis the reemergence of China as a global power and the decline of US influence abroad
“other official flows” (OOF) refer to those funds that are non-concessional in terms and for commercial and trade purposes, with more than 25% the amount classified as a grant
Summary
A state’s foreign assistance and official finance programs constitute one of the key instruments for expanding its sphere of influence beyond its claimed territorial borders. I maintain that the dominance of the US in the international development sector was under serious threat from two principal challenges during the Trump presidency: (1) the lack of coherent and credible strategy from the Trump administration amid the rapidly increasing influence of China as an aid donor country and the (2) the declining legitimacy of the US a foreign aid donor due to the exclusionary and anti-globalization discourses of Trump vis-à-vis the perceived the decline of American power. The core objective here is to look back at the Trump administration, in its role in the US foreign aid apparatus vis-à-vis the reemergence of China as a global power and the decline of US influence abroad In building those two aforementioned arguments, this article is structured into several parts. The article concludes with a reflection on the implications of the decreasing legitimacy of the US in international development and global governance and China’s ascent as a likely alternative to providing a rival vision of development and good governance in aid recipient countries in the Global South
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