China and Russia are strategically increasing their foreign aid to various nations and regions around the world. However, even before COVID-19, U.S. policy­makers struggled to design a coherent foreign aid strategy tied more intimately to U.S. national interests to counter the Russian and Chinese efforts. Perhaps the current pandemic crisis will sharpen the debate in the United States on the strategic use of foreign aid when there are direct national security threats at stake.

This talk will review how the U.S. foreign assistance program helped win the Cold War during an earlier period of great power rivalry, the strengths and weaknesses of the current foreign aid programs of China and Russia, and then, using lessons from the Cold War aid pro­gram, suggest a new realpolitik foreign aid strategy for the United States.