The Last Mile Lost: How Musk, China, and Political Short-Sightedness Undermined USAID—and America’s Soft Power
By Steven W. Pearce | Strategic Earth Publication
Introduction: A Dangerous Turning Point
This is more than a policy shift, it’s a historic unraveling. One whose long-term consequences may not become clear until entire regions fracture, humanitarian access collapses, and our rivals fill the vacuum we left behind.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has long stood as one of America’s most powerful tools of soft power. For decades, USAID wasn’t just a development agency, it was the outstretched hand of American values. It symbolized food deliveries to famine-stricken regions, the installation of clean water systems in remote villages, support for democratic institutions in fragile states, and the quiet deployment of doctors, engineers, and teachers into some of the most unstable places on Earth.
Through these efforts, the American flag on a food parcel or a solar panel became more than a symbol, it was a lifeline. A message that the United States didn’t just send troops or sanctions, but also sent help, hope, and partnership.
But now, that message is faltering.
With Elon Musk reportedly intervening to weaken USAID’s operational reach—especially in high-conflict or geopolitically sensitive zones, the United States is at risk of losing much more than foreign aid contracts. We’re losing trust, access, and influence in parts of the world where global competition is fiercest. China, Russia, and other powers are already racing to fill the void.
We are watching the dismantling of America’s most effective bridge to the Global South—not by hostile actors, but by choices within our own corporate and political elite.
And in doing so, we’re eroding the very foundation of American leadership.
Musk’s Strategic Interference: Ukraine, Starlink, and Ideology
Let’s be clear: Musk’s actions around Starlink access in Ukraine have real-world consequences. His company reportedly blocked usage of Starlink for U.S.-funded contractors and development partners, hindering aid workers, while Russian troops were allowed continued access.
An Inspector General was investigating him for this. What followed next was not transparency, but retreat. The quiet shutdown of USAID-Starlink contracts left field personnel vulnerable in an active war zone. This wasn’t just about internet, it was about operational intelligence, remote medicine, education, logistics, and real-time civilian safety.
Then came the smokescreen.
Musk falsely accused USAID of pushing “transgender ideology,” a claim that spread quickly through politically polarized networks. Yet a simple review of USAID’s 2024 projects, of which I have the official excel spreadsheet in my possession, reveals the truth: amongst 92 official programs, the only “trans” initiative referenced was a transboundary conservation project in East Africa, focused on preserving ecosystems that cross national borders, nothing related to gender policy.
And when public scrutiny began to push back, another strategic move occurred: DOGE (Department of Global Engagement), a State Department-affiliated office working closely with USAID, took down the WorkWithUSAID.gov website. This site had previously allowed the public to browse grants, project goals, partnerships, and data transparency. Its removal prevented journalists, aid workers, and the general public from verifying or disproving Musk’s accusations—a chilling moment of information control.
This isn’t about ideology.
This is about disinformation weaponized to dismantle critical development infrastructure, with an alarming synergy between tech power, authoritarian impulse, and geopolitical convenience.
The South African Roots of Resentment?
It’s worth noting that Elon Musk hails from a South African background deeply tied to the apartheid regime. His grandfather and family benefited from the systemic dispossession of Black South Africans, gaining land, wealth, and business opportunities denied to others.
USAID, under past administrations, was part of the anti-apartheid pressure that helped transition South Africa toward multiracial democracy. Could part of this dismantling be motivated by deeper resentment? It's speculative, but important to keep in mind.
Tesla, China, and the Commodification of Influence
Musk recently opened Tesla’s largest global factory in China, a country that controls the majority of the world’s rare earth elements (REEs) and strategic minerals, including those critical for EV batteries and space ambitions like Mars colonization.
With China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) rapidly expanding infrastructure influence across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the U.S. has relied on USAID to balance that influence through humanitarian development, democracy support, and climate resilience.
Now we’ve essentially abdicated that field of soft power, leaving it open to China’s increasingly aggressive diplomacy. Food drops, solar panels, and clean water filtration once stamped with “From the American People” are now being replaced by “Gifted by the People’s Republic of China.”
Undermining USAID Is Undermining America
Eliminating or systematically eroding USAID doesn’t just weaken a development agency, it directly undermines U.S. national security, global competitiveness, and strategic positioning in an increasingly multipolar world. Here’s what we lose when USAID is sidelined, defunded, or politically scapegoated:
Public Health & Pandemic Defense
USAID plays a frontline role in early detection, containment, and mitigation of infectious diseases. From Ebola in West Africa to COVID-19 and future zoonotic threats, USAID funds laboratories, field epidemiologists, supply chains, and local health systems that can prevent outbreaks from reaching American shores. Without it, global disease surveillance collapses, and the world becomes more vulnerable to the next pandemic.
Trust Networks in Fragile States
In conflict zones and unstable regions, USAID isn’t just delivering aid, it’s building relationships, gathering local insights, and embedding goodwill through civil society partnerships. These trust networks serve as non-military intelligence channels, offering early warning systems for political unrest, extremist movements, and humanitarian risks that traditional agencies can’t access as effectively.
First-Mover Advantage Over Geopolitical Rivals
Wherever USAID operates, whether in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, or Latin America, it ensures that the United States, not China or Russia, is the first to engage. By stepping in early with food aid, clean water, electricity, education, and governance support, USAID blocks authoritarian regimes from buying influence, extracting resources, or installing proxy governments through debt diplomacy and strategic manipulation.
On-the-Ground Visibility
Through its vast network of grantees, implementers, and partner governments, USAID provides situational awareness on real-time migration flows, environmental degradation, food insecurity, and access to strategic minerals like lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements. This data helps U.S. policymakers anticipate refugee crises, geopolitical chokepoints, and supply chain threats before they reach critical levels.
Moral Authority and Global Leadership
USAID represents more than dollars—it represents American values. Its presence signals a commitment to human rights, gender equity, sustainability, and democratic development. When we withdraw this presence, we signal disinterest or abandonment, and open the door for autocrats and adversaries to rewrite the narrative. Our soft power collapses, and with it, our global credibility.
Soft Power Wins Wars Without Bullets
Let’s be clear: America’s greatest victories didn’t come from bombs—they came from books, bread, and bridges. The Peace Corps. The Marshall Plan. PEPFAR. USAID. These weren’t just humanitarian missions; they were strategic campaigns to win hearts and minds, to stabilize regions, and to build alliances rooted in mutual benefit, not coercion.
USAID has always been a force multiplier for peace, influence, and long-term security. When a refugee camp receives medicine “from the American people,” when a girl in Afghanistan goes to school with USAID funding, when solar panels arrive in rural Kenya—America earns trust that no weapons deal could ever buy.
Undermining USAID is undermining the very toolset that made America the most respected power in the world.
The Bigger Pattern: Trump’s Geopolitical Tilt Toward Russia and China
Musk's disruption of USAID fits neatly into a broader pattern of dismantling U.S. influence and strengthening authoritarian rivals under Trump’s ideological orbit:
Sanctions lifted on Russian oligarchs and major energy firms
Military and intelligence aid frozen for Ukraine during its most vulnerable moments
Statements favoring Putin over U.S. agencies like CIA, NSA, and ODNI—discrediting America’s own intelligence
Systematic attacks on NATO, weakening the Western alliance that has preserved peace for over 70 years
Strategic abandonment of USAID, our primary non-military tool to counter Russian and Chinese influence abroad
Each move disempowers democratic allies, erodes trust with global partners, and abandons the institutions that gave the U.S. its edge in diplomacy and stability-building. Meanwhile, China continues to expand its Belt and Road Initiative, and Russia exploits vacuums with mercenary forces and disinformation.
Conclusion: Reclaiming the Last Mile
The damage done by undermining USAID is not just operational, it’s symbolic.
It signals a retreat from American leadership, a withdrawal from the frontline of global compassion, progress, and justice. When USAID is defunded, dismissed, or discredited, we are not just cutting a budget, we are severing lifelines, blinding our foresight, and abandoning the tools that prevent conflict before it starts.
We must speak out, not merely to defend an agency, but to demand the return of strategic, values-based development as a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy.
Because:
Development is Defense.
Soft Power is Strategic Power.
Your Voice Matters. Let’s Reclaim the Last Mile Together.
If this message resonates with you, if you believe in restoring American leadership through compassion, foresight, and strategic development, don’t stay silent.
Like this post to show your support for reclaiming soft power.
Comment with your thoughts, experiences, or disagreements, we grow through dialogue.
Share this with your network so others can understand what’s really at stake.
Subscribe to Strategic Earth to follow this evolving conversation on ESG, geopolitics, climate, and development.
Tag USAID champions, development professionals, and decision-makers who need to see this.
Together, we can push back against misinformation, defend what matters, and rebuild the bridge between American ideals and global impact. 🌍
#StrategicEarth #USAID #SoftPower #DevelopmentIsDefense #ESG #Geopolitics #ForeignPolicy #NationalSecurity #ClimateAction #HumanRights #SubstackWriters #CallToAction
About the Author:
Steven W. Pearce is an award-winning ESG and global development strategist with over 13 years of experience advising national governments, U.S. defense agencies, international organizations, and Fortune 500 corporations on sustainability, climate security, and conflict-sensitive development. He is the Founder and CEO of Pearce Sustainability Consulting Group (PSCG), a globally recognized firm specializing in ESG reporting, SDG impact measurement, climate risk intelligence, and sustainable strategy integration.
Steven has contributed to over 2,200 institutional ESG initiatives across the public and private sectors, including defense-sector climate adaptation programs, international aid coordination platforms, and sovereign ESG readiness strategies. He has worked with entities including USAID, the Department of Defense, UNDP, and multiple intelligence-adjacent partners in sustainability planning.
He is the author of From Warming to Warfare: Climate Change and the Road to WWIII, a critically relevant analysis connecting ecological disruption to geopolitical instability. He also publishes Strategic Earth, a leading Substack newsletter at the nexus of ESG, geopolitics, and development, offering timely, systems-level insight into today’s most urgent global challenges.