By Todd Larson, Blanchardville
Straight out of undergraduate school at Carleton College, I served for two years in rural West Africa with the Peace Corps. I was motivated by vague but sincere altruism.
After law and graduate schools, I worked for twenty years at the United Nations. Though as international civil servant I did not officially represent the U.S., I was motivated in large part by a desire to foster responsible leadership on the international stage.
Following my UN career, I held a senior presidential appointment in the Obama administration, where I helped to build a new foreign policy priority. I worked for the U.S. to unapologetically lead by example in an area where we weren’t the first, but because of our stature we yielded the most influence.
From the Peace Corps to the UN to the Obama administration, I consistently observed firsthand that US leadership on the international stage helps others, yes. But let’s talk the cold, hard strategy of naked self-interest. In equal or greater measure, U.S. leadership on the international stage helps the U.S.
Living in a mud hut for two years whilst serving in the Peace Corps, my neighbors came to appreciate Americans as friends and partners rather than imperialists.
When we lead a coalition of like-minded governments to advance our agenda at the UN (at a fraction of the cost of armed conflict), we carry much more weight than if we act unilaterally. And we spend much less money, by virtue of cost sharing from those like-minded governments. A win-win for the U.S.
When USAID steps up from amongst the community of nations to lead with assistance to populations in dire need, the goodwill generated for the U.S. is boundless and timeless, from every vantage.
But when the U.S. retreats from leadership on the international stage, opportunists happily fill the void with their despotic, decidedly anti-American version of leadership. Think China (and Russia; there are other countries in line). Chinese and Russian usurping of the U.S. is underway.
Trust me. Trust any credible analyst on either end of the political spectrum. When we hand over the reins of international leadership to China or Russia, the only beneficiaries are China and Russia.
Yes, elections matter, and it is fair game for a new administration to review foreign assistance in order to align it with their priorities. It is not fair game in any universe for an un-elected Nazi-saluting progeny of apartheid, and his band of renegade computer programmers, to banish the U.S. from the international stage. Allowing them to do so is enormously short-sighted.
The task ahead of us is epic. To contain and rebuild after the current phase of wrecking ball deconstruction, we will need to conserve our energies. Let’s focus on the cold, hard strategy of naked self-interest — let’s continue to lead through institutions like the Peace Corps, the UN and USAID, and advocate with our elected representatives accordingly.
We can do well for ourselves in doing good for others.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. government established by Congress in 1961 for administering foreign aid and development assistance. Its budget is less than 1% of the total U.S. budget and it has retained bipartisan support due to its direct benefits to America. USAID helps populations in dire economic, medical and humanitarian need and administers medication and vaccines which stem the spread of disease throughout the world and into the U.S.
— Todd Larson, Blanchardville, has been recognized for his contributions towards securing rights and benefits for LGBT employees of the United Nations. He served as Presidential Appointee and the Senior Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Coordinator at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with a mandate to give substance and sustainability to an historic Presidential Memorandum, which established LGBTQI+ human rights and development as a new U.S. foreign policy priority.
