ORL Statement Supporting U.S. Soft Power to Enhance Vital National Security Interests

The Issue. The United States has long led the world by example, advancing democracy, free enterprise, and human rights through diplomacy and international partnerships. The use of soft power – that is, our ability to influence and shape global outcomes through attraction rather than coercion in countries where we have common interests in peace and security – is a core American strength. U.S. soft power creates good will with the nations with which we engage militarily and economically, helps to build alliances, reduces the need for military intervention, and in the long run promotes peace through stability.

America’s national security strategy is anchored by the three D’s: Diplomacy, Defense and Development. Development assistance is the least funded of the three D’s, yet does provide a substantial return on that limited investment, making military interventions less likely when development assistance is effectively deployed. In addition to saving and bettering lives, the untold benefit to our national security is evident in the history of lengthy, peaceful relations with the United States in those countries.

Soft power is also fiscally responsible: a modest investment in global health, education, and diplomacy that yields beneficial returns in terms of both security and prosperity. When the Trump Administration retreats from key initiatives and abandons tested programs by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) or the Voice of America with no foreign policy strategy and no cost-benefit analysis, our retreat creates a disastrous strategic vacuum that invites our adversaries such as Russia and China to enter and fill the void. For example, China is gaining ground, filling vacuums with its Belt and Road Initiative throughout Eurasia, Latin America, and Africa, including establishing authoritarian partnerships.

The failure of the Trump Administration to reverse course and act immediately to reaffirm and strengthen U.S. soft power more effectively and efficiently risks ceding global leadership and strengthening our adversaries in countries and regions where we still have national security and economic interests that will be compromised if the United States withdraws and cedes long relationships to those who would do us harm.

A Republican Party that embraces U.S. soft power to protect our vital interests will not only safeguard America’s future, but it also will reestablish global trust in our leadership with stronger partners. As President Ronald Reagan stated early in his Administration: “…[O]ur national interests are inextricably tied to the security and development of our friends and allies…The ultimate importance to the United States of our security and development assistance programs cannot be exaggerated.”^[1]

ORL policy position. Consistent with our principle of peace through strength to defend U.S. national interests at home and overseas, Our Republican Legacy calls for renewed commitment to U.S. leadership that prioritizes diplomacy, cultural engagement, and economic cooperation with friendly, peace-loving countries to promote our national interest. We urge the Administration to reverse course immediately. If President Trump refuses to do so, then Congress must intervene to conduct the needed oversight and renew U.S. soft power with new legislation if necessary to ensure that our foreign policy goals are being met effectively and efficiently.

Action Required. Specifically, ORL urges the President – and if he will not act, then the Congress – to:

1. Restore and renew America’s leadership through U.S. soft power. By revitalizing strategic investments in foreign aid in a cost-efficient manner, the United States reinforces the most effective traditions of Republican foreign policy: peace through strength, leadership through example, and influence through principle.

2. Restore U.S. AID programs that were working, viable, cost-effective, and serving U.S. vital interests before Trump abolished them illegally.

3. Restore and bolster platforms like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to counter authoritarian disinformation and promote American values and national interests where freedom of speech is suppressed.

4. Revitalize American humanitarian leadership. The Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), launched under President George W. Bush, is one of the most successful U.S. foreign aid programs ever, saving over 26 million lives and reinforcing goodwill worldwide. We oppose Trump’s proposed cuts as immoral and inhumane, when compared to a clearly impactful policy that leverages our strength in health care and pharmaceuticals for example. We believe full funding for programs like PEPFAR will uphold America’s leadership and credibility in a humanitarian as well as cost-effective way.

^[1] President Ronald Reagan, Statement on Signing International Security and Foreign Assistance Legislation, The White House, December 29, 1881.