USAID has announced it is setting aside $1.5 billion in taxpayer funds to prop up Ukraine civil society and boost the public image of US aid efforts.
The agency’s plan was revealed when observers spotted a post on the US government’s online procurements portal soliciting assistance for “communication support activities.” The message noted USAID’s office sought support in “public awareness-raising campaigns, translation and interpretation, public relations and media work, preparation of materials and engagement of influencers and photographers,” according to reporting from the TASS news outlet.
The post disclosed that the award of the contract would be announced on July 1 for work lasting the duration of one year with the possibility of extension.
Although the public relations effort is aimed at Ukrainians, the posting of such material online implies US citizens would also be exposed to the content. Federal law has traditionally barred government agencies from creating propaganda aimed at Americans, but lawmakers lifted the ban in 2013 as the US government funded online bots to manipulate public opinion throughout the Middle East.
USAID has become highly controversial for using the provision of foreign aid as an under-the-radar tool of US influence. Established by former President John F. Kennedy during the height of the Cold War, the agency has backed media, activist, and political forces abroad to promote favored policy and even support operations in countries targeted for regime change. Such efforts are known as “color revolutions” and have taken place in such countries as Bolivia in 2019 and Ukraine in 2004 and 2014.
Researcher Adrienne Pine describes USAID as an important tool of US “soft power.” The agency was created around the same time as other government organizations such as the Peace Corps and the Alliance for Progress, “a US imperialist program aimed at preventing revolutions in Latin America,” Pine says.
“You've got these three institutions that are founded by Kennedy in the wake of the Cuban Revolution and in the context of revolutionary anti-imperialist movements around the world so that the US can establish its hegemony post-World War Two,” said the academic. “So USAID has never been a benign institution. It's never really been an aid institution.”
USAID has been banned by a number of foreign governments who oppose its use as a tool of covert subversion, including Venezuela, Ecuador, Cuba and Bolivia. Russia expelled the organization in 2012 after a cache of emails was leaked showing hidden cooperation between US-backed non-governmental organizations and opposition groups.
The agency’s latest public relations effort is part of a massive grant announced by US Vice President Kamala Harris at Ukraine’s diplomatic summit in Switzerland over the weekend. The $1.5 billion in funds will go towards such uses as maintaining Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure and paying the salaries of civil servants.
Funding for Ukraine has been sharply criticized as the United States backs government programs such as universal healthcare that are not enjoyed by American citizens. Polling has revealed that about half of Americans believe the country is spending too much money supporting Kiev’s proxy war against Russia.