EU and US in the Middle East: “Soft Power” Failure

The article examines the situation, in which the United States and the European Union found themselves in the institutionalized systems of development assistance to third countries after D. Trump suspended the work of USAID (organization was closed and banned in Russia). The significance of this topic is related to the fact that the provision of aid (humanitarian and economic) to those in need abroad has long been not only a significant component of Western foreign policy (in particular, a manifestation of its “soft power”), but also one of the tools for maintaining the “global liberal order” in the world. It is indicative that with all the criticism of this instrument for 64 years in the United States itself, both Democrats and Republicans have so far considered it important to continue its work. In the European Union, this aspect of foreign policy (EuroAID) not only retains its importance today, even despite the hesitation of individual national governments, but also (after Trump's decision on USAID) receives new impulses to intensify and expand the geography of its application. In the EU, the question is increasingly being raised to what extent Europeans could “compensate” for the Americans' withdrawal from humanitarian aid in the Third World, particularly in the Middle East region adjacent to Europe, with their potential. The author considers such a prospect taking into account certain differences between the respective American and European concepts.

United States, Trump, USAID, European Union, EuroAID, Middle East, humanitarian aid, development cooperation, soft power