The Recalibration of U.S. Aid and Development Programs in Africa: Assessing the Impact of Trump’s Neo-Isolationist Agenda
Keywords:
U.S. Foreign Aid, Neo-Isolationism, Africa–U.S. Relations, Development Policy, Trump Administration, Aid RecalibrationAbstract
This paper will analyse how the U.S. aid and development program to Africa is being recalibrated under the neo-isolationist agenda of President Donald Trump, the effect of the same on African socio-economic development and U.S Africa relations. The study evaluates the changes in the U.S. aid approach in 2016-2021 that occurred due to the qualitative analysis of the policy documents, reports by the USAID, and other aligned sources that discussed the shift in priorities. Among the major results, it can be shown that the administration of Trump cut back on multilateral commitments, pumped money back into counterterrorism initiatives, and cut down on support of health, education, and climate initiatives. The paper contributes to the knowledge about the role of alterations in the U.S. foreign policy in shaping world development practices and the ways the African states can proceed with the changing geopolitical dynamics. The results highlight the risks of a transactional approach to foreign aid in the long-term and provide policy proposals on how the U.S. and Africa can engage in the future.
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