Withering on the Vine: Giving Young Policy Leaders a Voice to Save Liberal Democracy
Business, education, and culture run more smoothly when a country has a democratic government, and this will benefit all parties involved. When we invest in foreign-affairs professionals we invest in something far bigger than an individual. We invest in ideas and concrete on-the-ground action that will help create a safer and more prosperous world.
A world where autocratic powers collaborate with non-state actors is on the rise. Autocratic countries such as Venezuela employ advanced psychological warfare to tear down any opposition, China is engaging in the genocide of thousands, and Russia is resurrecting an Age of Empire to rival that of the Spanish conquistadors. In this geopolitical landscape, isolationism is not an option; retreating into a hole and pretending it does not affect us would make it even worse. We must instead invest in young foreign-affairs professionals in order to strengthen democracy around the globe and reinforce national security at home.
Today, thousands of highly qualified young Americans who studied foreign affairs and politics are struggling to find seats at the decision-making tables, which is bad for all of us. We have a vast gold mine of untapped talent in this country that could help resolve the matters described above. The field has already been extremely competitive for decades—graduates are often underemployed and working outside their field instead of being incorporated into it, bringing fresh solutions for geopolitical change. To make matters even worse, the recent threats against NED, IRI, and NDI are not only destroying soft power but are decimating paths for young Americans to make a positive difference in the world.
“When countries are given support for non-profits that engage in activities such as combating corruption and holding their own governments accountable, it is an investment in creating new overseas allies for Americans.”
Politics and government are not businesses and should not be run as such. Their purpose is not to generate profit but to serve the common good, which includes strengthening liberal democracy. A stronger democratic foundation enhances national security because it strengthens our relations with allies and creates new allies and movements around the world that need more support in their civic space. When there are more liberal democracies in the world, the world is more secure. This is in part because liberal democracies are able to give voices to their citizens, making armed groups and dictators less likely to take control.
Today, these dictators work in a kleptocratic network, endangering lives through physical warfare as well as causing prices in America to rise through kleptocratic financial networks. Liberal democracies, by contrast, do not go to war against each other, and they offer more opportunities for exchange of goods, services, and knowledge.
Preserving Human Capital and Expertise
We are missing out on young talent who poured time and effort into studying foreign languages and learning about the world. To harness this potential, we could expand, rather than reduce, funding at institutions such as IRI, NDI, NED, USAID, and USIP. This would also contribute to our national security and interests, as Americans are able to observe threats from the network of autocracy and to alert policymakers.
Furthermore, movements require funding and nonprofit organizations to support them, and NGOs could employ more people and strengthen global democracy if they received greater financial backing. While the private sector has a role to play, the plight of global democracy is too large and complex for it alone. Expanding aid and effort toward global democratization would not only create jobs but also foster a more secure and stable global community, one safer and friendlier for both business and homeland security.
Again, liberal democracies never go to war with other liberal democracies, only autocracies do. Movements from Hong Kong to Venezuela looked to the United States as a leader, as people gave their lives protesting for their freedom. Who are we to abandon them? Who are we to stop all work for liberal democracy—unless we give up on it ourselves? There has been a decline of hope in the western world, and much of this is the result of democracies that do not allow full participation (which we can change); it is also caused by autocratic regimes such as Russia and Venezuela flooding our social media spaces with bots and trolls to promote extremist voices and destroy democracy from within.
Without NED, IRI, NDI, and USAID, we are also limiting opportunities for thousands of Americans in international relations—a field where demand already exceeds available positions, even as interest continues to grow. We need their expertise now more than ever. Russia and China are unified in a network; without the United States or Europe on the playing field, they will have a clean sweep. Although it is reasonable to evaluate programs for efficacy, the outright termination of thousands of Americans is a reckless decision—one that would mean dismantling entire fields of knowledge and expertise when we need them most. There is such a thing as human capital, and it can take years to build it up after it has been left on the roadside. The private sector can also do much, but it cannot engage in diplomacy or with the system of international governments; for that we need government power.
Finally, there is a real risk that America could experience a major brain drain, with thousands of qualified professionals migrating to Europe and Canada. Another possibility is that we will have a massively qualified yet underemployed population, allowing those lacking qualifications in government to rise to the top.
Division from Within
Meanwhile, Russia is profiting as Americans are fighting culture wars and having more needless internal instability. All roads lead back to Moscow—to prevent Ukrainian victory, Moscow is creating culture wars with seemingly no endgame in order to “own the libs,” funding and influencing both far-right and far-left voices in the United States and Europe to polarize us from within. This is also causing thousands of Americans to be without an income and is destroying American soft power. When Americans study international affairs, they gain new insights and innovative ideas for helping the world. When American programs are employed in places like Ukraine and Georgia, people in those countries develop strong relations with us as well as an interest in becoming our allies and sharing ideas. Every year, American students compete for fellowships and programs in international relations. We have more professionals than we have positions, and each one has unique talents and perspectives that would benefit us greatly. This is why our 80-year allyship with Europe, and the NATO alliance that has kept all of us safe (indeed, our NATO allies were the first to defend us after the 9/11 attacks), remains essential for creating opportunities and fostering global stability. Americans go to Europe to work and study and return to the United States with new ideas for innovation and policy—and Europeans do the same in reverse. Our friendship has kept us strong against the network of autocrats including Russia, Venezuela, and China.
We are facing a clear choice: invest in liberal democracy and empower the next generation of leaders, or retreat into isolation and watch as autocracies reshape the world in their image. Investing in foreign affairs and employing these professionals is more than just “job creation” (which in itself is nice). Employing them brings principles and ideas from academia and the classroom outside of the lecture hall and into the real world where they can help others. When countries are given support for non-profits that engage in activities such as combating corruption and holding their own governments accountable, it is an investment in creating new overseas allies. It also makes our world safer by providing young people with opportunities for education and careers—steering them away from radical groups and toward professions like medicine or politics, where they can contribute to their communities. Poland was a country that endured hundreds of years of oppression, but through strong civil society organizations they are now one of the United States’ strongest and most reliable allies. Business, education, and culture run more smoothly when a country has a democratic government, and this will benefit all parties involved. When we invest in foreign-affairs professionals we invest in something far bigger than an individual. We invest in ideas and concrete on-the-ground action that will help create a safer and more prosperous world.
