Two weeks ago, Beijing rolled out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin to deepen their “no-limits” partnership. Just last week there were dangerous new reports on how Russia, China and Iran are attempting to disrupt the United Kingdom’s election next month.
These
days, a week doesn’t seem to go by without new evidence of how our adversaries
and competitors are brazenly working together to threaten the interests of the
U.S. and our allies.
As
Russia opens new fronts in Ukraine, China and Iran continue to provide the
country with significant economic and military support, respectively. China’s
purchases of Iranian oil and gas fuel proxy wars across the Middle East while
Iran continues to produce weapons to kill Ukrainians and Americans. And Russia
hosted Hamas leaders at the Kremlin just days following the Oct. 7th terrorist
attacks on Israel.
I saw
this growing nexus firsthand in my own travels — most recently in South Africa
as part of an Aspen Institute congressional delegation. As expected, we saw
China’s outsized footprint throughout the continent. More surprising was
AFRICOM’s briefing on Moscow’s rapidly expanding economic investments, pacing
what experts are seeing in Latin America and the Indo-Pacific.
At home,
researchers are connecting the dots on Russia’s attempts to not only interfere
with elections but also influence our foreign policy. Last summer, for example,
following the Maui fires, a “Hawaii, not Ukraine” narrative first emerged from
a newly created and dubious account on X.
This
type of playbook is becoming all too common: The narrative was amplified by
Russia, it metastasized on social media and eventually crossed over into
mainstream media creating foreign policy angst among voters.
House
Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) has called out how these
influence campaigns impact policymakers: “We see directly coming from Russia
attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages,
some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor.”
Our
adversaries’ objectives appear clear as they seek to undermine our national
interests at home and in every corner of the world. While America cannot
control Russia’s actions, we can decide whether and how we show up and engage
on the global stage.
Even in
an election year, here are three areas where I believe Republican and
Democratic policymakers can work together to protect our nation’s security and
economic interests.
First,
when we think of national security spending, it’s not just defense — it’s also
strengthening our civilian national security toolkit. In fact, the national
security emergency funding package that Congress just approved underscores how
supporting our allies and providing essential economic and humanitarian
assistance matters to protecting America’s interests.
The need
for supplemental resources has grown even more urgent in recent years, as core
U.S. development and diplomatic funding remain flat while global threats have
skyrocketed. Given this threat-resource mismatch, Congress has been forced to
rely on emergency supplementals to bridge the gap.
Unfortunately,
the final FY24 spending deal included serious cuts to America’s core economic
and development assistance. If Congress does not readjust, the emerging
challenges of today become the emergency threats of tomorrow.
Secondly,
we must pay attention to the growing reality that economic security is national
security. This includes heightened engagement in economic statecraft and
greater use of America’s diplomatic and economic tools, strengthening supply
chains, bolstering export markets in emerging economies, leveraging technology
and diplomacy and ensuring the U.S. is setting the rules of the road on issues
from trade to energy to artificial intelligence.
When I
traveled to Kenya last year, Amb. Meg Whitman, former CEO of Hewlett Packard,
reminded our delegation that by 2050, 1 in 3 global workers looking for their
first job will live in Africa — and our competitors are playing to win. The
next day, our delegation visited impressive economic development programs led
by USAID and the Development Finance Corporation that are bolstering
opportunities in Kenya and here in the U.S.
At a
time when China has increased its development investments around the world by
525 percent in the last 15 years alone, America cannot afford to take its foot
off the gas.
Lastly,
global crises have reached a fever pitch with nearly 300 million people in need
of humanitarian assistance from Sudan to Gaza to Haiti. In addition to the
human toll, the growing conflict and turmoil from these crises add to mounting
instability and security risks — making the world and America less safe.
It’s why
I am honored to join hundreds of business, veteran, agricultural and local
elected leaders from across the country on Capitol Hill this week to speak out
on the imperative for America to be engaged in the world, because rarely has
there been a more significant moment when global stability impacts American
stability.
The good
news is that America has the diplomatic and development tools to meet this
moment. The question is whether America will confront these threats at the
scale required because the fact is that we can pay now or pay later.
As my
longtime friend, Gen. James Mattis, first told Congress more than a decade ago,
“If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more
ammunition.”
His
words have never rung more true than today.
***Liz
Schrayer is president and CEO of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4696602-us-leadership-is-essential-to-counter-surging-anti-democratic-influence/