Heed General Mattis' Warning, D.C.: Less Diplomacy Means 'More Ammunition'

Forbes

18-06-2025

In his January Inaugural Address, Donald Trump said, 'We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.'
If that's the president's most crucial foreign policy metric – and it's a good one – then it's hard to understand why Washington is pulling back on investments that have prevented war and promoted peace for decades. Especially when foreign aid accounts for only about one percent of the federal budget, much of it actually spent within the U.S. Every American should hope the White House reconsiders its strategy before it's too late.
"If you don't fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition" — Former Defense ... More Secretary James Mattis. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch - Pool/Getty Images)
In 1947, America did something unique in world history when it launched the Marshall Plan, spending $187 billion in today's dollars to rehabilitate the economies of 17 European countries. Most extraordinary of all, we spent over 20% of those funds on the recovery of our World War II adversaries, Germany and Italy. The plan worked, establishing a stable and prosperous Europe, a network of reliable allies, and a massive market for U.S. companies. Last year, the U.S. exported almost $250 billion of goods alone to Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands.
This exercise of 'soft power' – which describes the use of foreign aid, diplomacy, and the promotion of American values abroad – turned out to be every bit as consequential to strengthening America and winning the Cold War as our military's 'hard power.'
But soft power is on the outs in Washington.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the administration plans to reduce the Department's staff in the U.S. by 15 percent while closing and consolidating more than 100 bureaus worldwide.
At the same time, China now has a larger diplomatic presence worldwide than the U.S. and a massive global infrastructure and investment strategy. Its Belt and Road Initiative is the largest infrastructure project in history, involving more than 140 countries and drawing an increasing number of nations into its orbit. China is rapidly filling the void because the U.S. has vacated its historic and influential presence.
On his first day back in office in January 2025, President Trump signed an executive order freezing all foreign aid, including the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Since its creation in George W. Bush's administration, PEPFAR has saved more than 25 million lives and prevented millions of HIV infections, including those in America, as the AIDS pandemic has been brought under more control. Although the Trump administration subsequently allowed a waiver for the continued distribution of HIV medicine, many other key aspects of the PEPFAR program are in jeopardy.
President Trump has also ordered the closure of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, which reaches 50 million people each week in places where media freedom doesn't exist.
Even Cookie Monster, Oscar, and Elmo are on the chopping block.
Less soft power for Elmo: International adaptations of "Sesame Street" have been impacted by cuts in ... More federal funding.
Since the early 1970s, Sesame Workshop, the producer of Sesame Street, has collaborated with local broadcasters to develop unique, culturally adapted versions of the show in over 150 countries. These international co-productions often include local languages, characters, and educational priorities, making "Sesame Street" a global neighborhood. Because the Department of Education has cancelled its key grants, Sesame Street has become a dead end in several nations.
There's little question that some of the money Washington spent in recent years on foreign aid was wasted or devoted to pet ideological causes. This likely explains why 59% of the public supports reducing foreign aid, even as they vastly overestimate how much America spends on it. (Opinion polls often show Americans believe more than a quarter of the federal budget goes to foreign aid. As stated earlier, the real figure is around 1%.)
However, I'd ask my fellow Americans – and our leaders in Washington – to recall something General James Mattis, then commander of the Central Command, said in 2013 about the perils of making reckless cuts to foreign aid and diplomacy. Testifying before Congress, he said,
'If you don't fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition. The more that we put into the State Department's diplomacy, hopefully, the less we must put into a military budget as we deal with the outcome of an apparent American withdrawal from the international scene.'
To meet President Trump's goal of ending and avoiding wars, Washington can't just slash budgets. It needs a new framework for soft power that prioritizes America's interests and delivers peace through strength. A great place to start would be the new 'Blueprint for How America Wins in the World' from the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (full disclosure: I am a Vice Chairman at USGLC).
I spoke recently to USGLC President Liz Schrayer, one of the sharpest thinkers I know on foreign policy and the exercise of U.S. power. Amid growing threats from China, Russia, and Iran, Liz walked me through several steps America can take to be stronger, safer, and more prosperous, including:
Making these soft power investments should appeal to the most hardboiled realists in Washington – and compel the White House to reverse course on some of its proposed aid and diplomacy cuts – because they all make America safer. If we want to stay one step ahead of China, prevent the next pandemic from reaching our shores, keep our borders secure, and grow our economy, America must show up, lead with strength, and make smart investments abroad that deliver on American interests.
Otherwise, our service members are going to need more ammunition.