US strips moral framing from foreign aid in ‘America first’ pivot

At a high-level conference in Washington last month, the US State Department unveiled an “America first” aid strategy that ties development dollars directly to the commercial and security goals of the world’s largest economy.

Officials at the Indo-Pacific Foreign Assistance Conference said future aid would be channelled into projects that promote US businesses abroad, reinforce national security priorities and sustain Washington’s strategic reach in the region.

Nowhere is this recalibration more evident than in the Pacific, where Washington is funnelling assistance primarily into those initiatives that deliver clear economic and security returns.

Continued support for the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency would allow US-flagged vessels to fish in the exclusive economic zones of 16 Pacific island nations, creating jobs across the US and its territories while “generating hundreds of millions of dollars per year in gross revenue for the US economy”, the State Department said in a statement on December 29.

The department also highlighted its partnership with the United States Trade and Development Agency to fund American private sector-led infrastructure upgrades at Koror International Airport in Palau.