THE ERA OF MIGHT MAKES RIGHT
In the MAGA vision of the national interest, America will be more
like Russia, China, and Iran. (BY GEORGE PACKER)
The best way to ==dismantle== the federal government, then
==repurpose== it as a tool of personal power and ideological
warfare, is to start with the soft targets. Entitlements and defense,
which comprise more than half of federal spending and a large share of
its fraud and waste, enjoy too much support for Elon Musk to ==roll
them up== easily. But nothing is less popular than sending
taxpayers’ money to unknown people in poor, faraway countries that might
==be rife with corruption== . Americans dislike foreign aid so
much that they wrongly believe it consumes at least a quarter of the
budget (in the previous fiscal year, aid constituted barely 1 percent).
President John F. Kennedy understood the problem, and after creating the
United States Agency for International Development, in 1961, he told his
advisers: “We hope we can tie this whole concept of aid to the safety of
the United States. That is the reason we give aid. The test is whether
it will serve the United States. Aid is not a good word. Perhaps we can
describe it better as ‘Mutual Assistance.’ ” At another meeting, Kennedy
suggested “International Security.”
USAID continued for the next six decades because leaders of both
parties believed that ending ==polio== , preventing famine,
stabilizing poor countries, strengthening democracies, and opening new
markets served the United States. But on January 20, within hours of his
inauguration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that
froze foreign aid. USAID was instructed to stop nearly all work. Its
Washington headquarters was occupied and sensitive data were
==seized== by ==whiz== kids from Musk’s Department of
Government Efficiency, or DOGE. One of their elder members, a 25-yearold
software engineer and Matt Gaetz fan named Gavin Kliger, acquired an
official email address to instruct the staff of USAID to stay home.
Contractors were fired and employees ==were placed on indefinite
leave== ; those on overseas missions were given 30 days to return
to the States with their families. Under orders to remain silent, they
used ==pseudonyms== on encrypted chats to inform the outside
world of what was going on. When I spoke on Signal with government
employees, they sounded as if they were in Moscow or Tehran. “It felt
like it went very ==authoritarian== very quickly,” one
==civil servant== told me. “You have to watch everything you
say and do in a way that is gross.”
The website usaid.gov vanished, then ==reappeared== with a
==bare-bones== announcement of the organization’s
==dismemberment== , followed by the message “Thank you for your
service.” A ==veteran== USAID official called it “
==brutal== — from some 20-yearold idiot who doesn’t know
anything. What the fuck do you know about my service?” ==A curtain
fell over the public information== that could have served to
challenge the ==outpouring== of lies and
==distortions== from the White House and from Musk, who called
USAID “a criminal organization” and “evil.” If you looked into the
charges, nearly all turned out to be ==outright==
==falsehoods== , highly misleading, or isolated examples of the
kind of stupid, wasteful programs that exist in any organization.
A ==grant== for hundreds of ethnic-minority students from
Myanmar to attend universities throughout Southeast Asia became a
propaganda tool in the hands of the ==wrecking crew== because
it went under the name “Diversity and ==Inclusion== Scholar
ship Program”—as if the money were going to a “woke” bureaucracy, not to
Rohingya refugees from the military regime’s ==genocide== . The
==orthodoxy== of a previous administration required the
==terminology== ; the orthodoxy of the new one has ended the
students’ education and forced them to return to the country that
==oppressed== them. One of Trump’s executive orders is called
“Defending Women Against Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring
Biological Truth to the Federal Government”; meanwhile, the
administration suspended the online education of nearly 1,000 women in
Afghanistan who had been studying undetected by the Taliban with funding
from the State Department.
But hardly anyone in this country knows these things.
==Contesting== Musk’s algorithmically boosted lies on X with
the tools of a reporter is like fighting a wildfire with a garden
hose.
With no workforce or funding, USAID’s efforts around the
world—vaccine campaigns in Nepal, HIV-drug distribution in Nigeria,
nutrition for starving children in Sudanese refugee camps—were forced to
end. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (who ==championed== USAID
as a senator and now, as the agency’s acting head, is its
==executioner== ) issued a ==waiver== for lifesaving
programs. But it proved almost meaningless, because the people needed to
run the programs were locked out of their computers, had no way to
communicate, and feared punishment if they kept working.
The ==heedlessness== of the aid ==wreckers==
recalls Nick Carraway’s description in The Great Gatsby of Tom
and Daisy Buchanan: “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they
smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money
or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together,
and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” An agency of
10,000 employees is shrinking to about 300 and, despite its
==statutory== independence, being dissolved into the State
Department. The veteran USAID official I spoke with foresaw a
==skeletal== operation reduced to health and food assistance,
with everything else—education, the environment, governance, economic
development—gone.
But even basic ==humanitarian== programs will be nearly
impossible to sustain with the numbers that the administration
==envisions== —for example, 12 staff members for all of
Africa.
“This is the infrastructure and architecture that has given us a
doubling of the human lifespan,” Atul Gawande, the writer and surgeon
who was the most recent, and perhaps last, head of the agency’s Bureau
for Global Health, told me. “Taking it down kills people.”
Trump and Musk’s destruction of USAID was a trial
==blitzkrieg== : Send tanks and ==bombers== into
==defenseless== Poland to see what works before turning on the
Western powers. The ==assault== provided a model for
==eviscerating== the rest of the federal bureaucracy. It also
demonstrated the radicalism of Trump’s view of America’s role in the
world.
Every president from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Barack Obama understood
that American power was enhanced, not threatened, by attaching it to
alliances, institutions, and values that the American people support,
such as freedom, ==pluralism== , and humanitarianism. This was
the common idea behind Harry Truman’s Marshall Plan for
==postwar== Europe, Kennedy’s establishment of USAID, Jimmy
Carter’s creation of the U.S. refugee program, and George W. Bush’s
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. These weren’t simple acts of generosity.
They were designed to prevent chaos and misery from overwhelming other
countries and, eventually, harming our own. They expanded American
influence by attraction rather than ==coercion== , showing
people around the world that the ==Leviathan== could benefit
them, too. Political scientists call this “soft power.”
Every president betrayed these ideas in one way or another, making
U.S. foreign policy ==a fat target== for criticism at home and
abroad, by the left and the right. Kennedy used foreign aid to
==wage== a bloody ==counterinsurgency== in South
Vietnam; Carter put human rights at the center of his policy and then
==toasted the repressive== ==shah== of Iran; Bush,
claiming to be spreading democracy to the Middle East, seriously damaged
America’s global legitimacy. USAID ==antagonized== host
governments and local populations with its ==arrogance== and
==bloat== . “We had a hand in our own destruction,” one
longtime official told me. “We threw money in areas we didn’t need
to.”
But the alternative to the ==hypocrisies== of soft power and
the postwar liberal order was never going to be a ==chastened==
, ==humbler== American foreign policy— neither the left’s
fantasy of ==a plus-size Norway== nor the right’s of a return
to the ==isolationist== 1920s. The U.S. is far too big, strong,
and ==messianic== for voluntary diminish ment. The choice for
this ==superpower== is between ==enlightened==
==selfinterest== , with all its blind spots and failures, and
raw coercion.
Trump is showing what raw coercion looks like. Rather than negotiate
with Canada and Mexico, impose U.S. demands with tariffs; rather than
strengthen NATO, undermine it and threaten a conflict with one of its
smallest, most ==benign== member countries; rather than review
aid programs for their ==efficacy== , shut them down,
==slander== the people who make them work, and shrug at the
humanitarian catastrophe that follows. The deeper reason for the
extinction event at USAID is Trump’s contempt for anything that looks
like cooperation between the strong and the weak. “America First” is
more ==imperialist== than isolationist, which is why William
McKinley, not George Washington or John Quincy Adams, is Donald Trump’s
new presidential hero. He’s using a techno-futurist billionaire to
return America to the late 19th century, when the civil service was a
patronage network and great-power doctrine held that “might makes
right.” He’s ridding himself and the country of restraining codes— the
rule of law at home, the rules-based order abroad—and replacing them
with a simple test: “What’s in it for me?” He’s
==unilaterally== ==disarming== America of its soft
power, making the United States no different from China, Russia, or
Iran. This is why the ==gutting== of USAID has received
propaganda assistance and glowing reviews from Beijing, Moscow, and
Tehran.
==Transactional== logic has an obvious appeal.
==Dispensing== with the annoying ==niceties== of
multilateral partnerships and foreign aid brings a kind of clarity to
international relations, showing where the real muscle is, like ==a
strip-down== before a wrestling match. Set loose, the U.S. might be
strong enough to work its will on weaker friends and neighbors, or at
least claim to do so. Trump’s threat of tariffs to intimidate Colombia
into allowing ==deportation== flights to land there was like
the assault on USAID—an easy demonstration project. His domination of
the propaganda sphere allows him to convince the public of victories
even where, as with Canada, there was never much of a dispute to begin
with. If NATO dissolved while the U.S. grabbed Greenland, many Americans
would regard it as a net win: We’d save money and gain a strategic chunk
of the North Atlantic while freeing ourselves of an obligation whose
benefit to us wasn’t entirely clear.
It isn’t obvious why funding the education of oppressed Burmese
students serves our national interest. It’s easier to see the advantages
of strongarming weak countries into giving in to our demands. If this
creates ==resentment== , well, who said gratitude mattered
between nations? Strength has its own attractive force. A sizable
==cohort== of Americans have made their peace with Trump, not
because he tempered his cruelty and checked his abuses but because he is
at the height of his power and is using it without restraint. This is
called power worship. The Russian invasion of Ukraine won Vladimir Putin
a certain admiration in countries of the global South, as well as among
MAGA Americans, while Joe Biden’s appeals to democratic values seemed
==pallid== and hypocritical. The law of “might makes right” is
the political norm in most countries. Trump needs no explaining in
Nigeria or India.
Coercion also depends on the American people’s
==shortsightedness== and ==incuriosity== .Trump’s
flood of executive orders and Musk’s assault on the federal government
are intended to create such chaos that not even the insiders most
affected understand what’s happening. An inattentive public might simply
see a Washington melee—the disrupters against the bureaucrats. Short of
going to war, if the U.S. starts behaving like the great powers of
earlier centuries and the rival powers of our own, how many Americans
will notice a difference in their own lives?
According to Rubio, the purpose of the aid pause is
to weed out programs that don’t advance “core national interests.”
Gawande compared the process to stopping a plane in midair and firing
the crew in order to conduct a review of the airline industry. But the
light of the ==bonfire== burning in Washington makes it easier
to see how soft power actually works—how most aid programs do serve the
national interest. Shutting down African health programs makes
monitoring the recent outbreak of Ebola in Uganda, and preventing its
spread from that region to the rest of the world, nearly impossible. In
many countries, the end of aid opens the door wider to
==predatory== Chinese loans and propaganda. As one USAID
official explained: “My job literally was countering China, providing
development assistance in a much nicer, kinder, partnership way to local
people who were being pressured and had their arms twisted.” When 70
Afghan students in central Asia, mostly women, had their scholarships to
American universities suddenly suspended and in some cases their plane
tickets canceled, the values of freedom and open inquiry lost a bit of
their attractiveness. The American college administrator responsible for
the students told me, “Young people who are sympathetic to the United
States and share our best values are not only not being welcomed;
they’re having the door slammed in their faces.”
Most Americans don’t want to believe that their government is taking
life saving medicine away from sick people in Africa, or betraying
Afghans who sacrificed for this country. They might disapprove of
foreign aid, but they want starving children to be fed. This native
==generosity== explains why Trump and Musk have gone to such
lengths to ==clog== the internet with falsehoods and hide the
consequences of their cruelty. The only obstacle to ending American soft
power isn’t Congress, the bureaucracy, or the courts, but public
opinion.
One of the country’s most popular programs is the resettlement of
refugees. For decades, ordinary American citizens have welcomed the
world’s most ==persecuted== and desperate people—European Jews
after World War II, Vietnamese after the fall of ==Saigon== ,
Afghans after the fall of Kabul. Refugees are in a separate category
from most immigrants: After years of waiting and ==vetting== by
U.S. and international agencies, they come here legally, with local
sponsors. But Trump and his adviser Stephen Miller see them as no
different from migrants crossing the southern border. The flurry of
executive orders and memos has halted the processing of all refugees and
ended funding for resettlement. The story has received little
attention.
Here’s what the program’s shutdown means: I spoke with an Afghan
special-forces captain who served alongside Americans— when Kabul was
about to fall in 2021, he prevented armed Taliban at the airport from
seizing U.S. weaponry, but he was left behind during the evacuation.
Arrested by the new regime, the captain was imprisoned for seven
months and suffered regular and severe torture, including the
==amputation== of a ==testicle== . He managed to
escape with his family to Pakistan in 2023 and was near the end of being
processed as a refugee when Trump took office. He had heard Trump
criticize the Biden administration for leaving military equipment behind
in Afghanistan. Because he had worked to prevent that from happening, he
told me, “that gave me a hope that the new administration would value my
work and look at me as a valuable person, a person who is aligned with
all the administration is hoping to achieve, and that would give a
chance for my kids and family to be moved out safely.” Biden’s
==ineptitude== ==stranded== the captain once;
Trump’s ==coldheartedness== is doing it again.
A sense of loyalty and compassion isn’t ==extraneous== to
American identity; it is at the core of national pride, and its betrayal
exacts a cost that can’t be easily measured. The Biden administration
created a program called Welcome Corps that allows ordinary Americans to
act as resettlement agencies. (My wife and I participated in it.) In
Pennsylvania, a retiree named Chuck Pugh formed a sponsor group to bring
an Afghan family here, and the final medical exam was completed just
before Inauguration Day. When resettlement was abruptly ended, Pugh
found himself wondering, Who are we? I know what I want to think, but
I’m just not sure. The sponsor group includes Pugh’s sister, Virginia
Mirra. She and her husband are ==devout== Christians and
==ardent== Trump supporters. In early February, when I asked
her how she felt about the suspension of the refugee program, she
sounded surprised, and disappointed—she hadn’t heard the news. “I feel
sad about that,” she said. “It does bother me. It’s starting to sink in.
With these people in danger, I would wonder if there would be an
exception made for them. How would we go about that?” Her husband
frequently sends American-flag lapel pins to Trump, and I suggested that
he write the president about the Afghan family. “I will talk to my
husband tonight,” Mirra said. “And I will continue to pray that the Lord
will protect them and bring them to this country by some means. I do
believe in miracles.”
Vocabulary, phrases and
sentences
| Words |
Chinese Definition |
Phonetic Symbol |
| dismantle |
拆除；拆卸；废除 |
/dɪsˈmæntl/ |
| repurpose |
将…用于新的目的；重新利用 |
/ˌriːˈpɜːrpəs/ |
| roll them up |
把它们卷起来 |
/rəʊl ðem ʌp/ |
| be rife with corruption |
充满腐败 |
/biː raɪf wɪð kəˈrʌpʃn/ |
| polio |
小儿麻痹症 |
/ˈpəʊlioʊ/ |
| whiz |
能手；专家 |
/wɪz/ |
| seize |
没收；查封 |
/siːz/ |
| be placed on indefinite leave |
被无限期停职 |
/biː pleɪst ɒn ɪnˈdefɪnət liːv/ |
| pseudonym |
笔名；假名 |
/ˈsjuːdənɪm/ |
| authoritarian |
独裁主义的；专制的 |
/ɔːˌθɒrəˈteəriən/ |
| civil servant |
公务员 |
/ˈsɪvl ˈsɜːvənt/ |
| bare - bone |
最低限度的 |
/ˈbeə bəʊn/ |
| dismemberment |
肢解；分割；瓜分 |
/dɪsˈmembəmənt/ |
| veteran |
老兵；老手；退伍军人 |
/ˈvetərən/ |
| brutal |
残忍的；野蛮的；冷酷的 |
/ˈbruːtl/ |
| a curtain fall over the public information |
对公众信息的掩盖 |
/ə ˈkɜːtn fɔːl ˈəʊvə ðə ˈpʌblɪk ˌɪnfəˈmeɪʃn/ |
| outpour |
倾泻；流出；流露 |
/ˈaʊtpɔː(r)/ |
| distortion |
扭曲；变形；失真；曲解 |
/dɪˈstɔːʃn/ |
| outright |
完全地；彻底地；公然地 |
/ˈaʊtraɪt/ |
| falsehood |
谎言；虚假；不实 |
/ˈfɔːlshʊd/ |
| grant |
奖学金 |
/ɡrɑːnt/ |
| wrecking crew |
破坏小组；拆除队 |
/ˈrekɪŋ kruː/ |
| inclusion |
包容 |
/ɪnˈkluːʒn/ |
| genocide |
种族灭绝；大屠杀 |
/ˈdʒenəsaɪd/ |
| orthodoxy |
正统观念；正统做法；正教 |
/ˈɔːθədɒksi/ |
| terminology |
术语；专门用语 |
/ˌtɜːmɪˈnɒlədʒi/ |
| contest |
争辩；质疑 |
/ˈkɒntest/ （动词）/ˈkɒntest/（名词） |
| champion |
支持；捍卫 |
/ˈtʃæmpiən/（名词）/ˈtʃæmpiən/（动词） |
| executioner |
刽子手；行刑者 |
/ˈeksɪkjuːʃənə(r)/ |
| waiver |
放弃；弃权；豁免 |
/ˈweɪvə(r)/ |
| heedlessness |
不注意；粗心大意 |
/ˈhiːdləsnəs/ |
| wrecker |
破坏者；肇事者；使船遇难的人 |
/ˈrekə(r)/ |
| statutory |
法定的；法规的；依照法令的 |
/ˈstætʃətri/ |
| skeletal |
骨骼的；骨瘦如柴的；梗概的 |
/ˈskelɪtl/ |
| humanitarian |
人道主义的；博爱的；慈善的 |
/hjuːˌmænɪˈteəriən/ |
| envision |
想象；设想；展望 |
/ɪnˈvɪʒn/ |
| blitzkrieg |
闪电战 |
/ˈblɪtskriːɡ/ |
| bomber |
轰炸机；投弹手 |
/ˈbɒmə(r)/ |
| defenseless |
无防御能力的；无助的 |
/dɪˈfensləs/ |
| assault |
攻击；袭击；突击 |
/əˈsɔːlt/ |
| eviscerate |
取出内脏；切除；彻底摧毁 |
/ɪˈvɪsəreɪt/ |
| pluralism |
多元主义；多元论；多元化 |
/ˈplʊərəlɪzəm/ |
| postwar |
战后的 |
/ˈpəʊstwɔː(r)/ |
| coercion |
强制；强迫；高压政治 |
/kəʊˈɜːʃn/ |
| leviathan |
Leviathan 海中怪兽；庞然大物 |
/lɪˈvaɪəθən/ |
| a fat target |
一个容易攻击的目标 |
/ə ˈfæt ˈtɑːɡɪt/ |
| wage |
开展；发动；进行；工资 |
/ˈweɪdʒ/（动词）/ˈweɪdʒ/（名词） |
| counterinsurgency |
反叛乱；平叛 |
/ˌkaʊntərɪnˈsɜːdʒənsi/ |
| toasted the repressive |
为镇压者干杯（这里意译就是支持镇压者） |
/ˈtəʊstɪd ðə rɪˈpresɪv/ |
| shah |
（伊朗）国王 |
/ʃɑː/ |
| antagonize |
使对抗；使敌对；引起…的敌意 |
/ænˈtæɡənaɪz/ |
| arrogance |
傲慢；自大 |
/ˈærəɡəns/ |
| bloat |
使膨胀；使肿胀；肿胀；臃肿；膨胀 |
/ˈbləʊt/ |
| chastened |
受到惩罚后变得克制的； chastise（惩罚）的过去分词 |
/ˈtʃeɪsnd/ |
| a plus - size Norway |
一个大号挪威（形象说法，指左派幻想的像挪威那样温和的美国） |
/ə ˈplʌs saɪz ˈnɔːweɪ/ |
| isolationist |
孤立主义的 |
/ˌaɪsəˈleɪʃənɪst/ |
| messianic |
有救世主情结的；弥赛亚的 |
/ˌmesiˈænɪk/ |
| superpower |
超级大国 |
/ˈsuːpəpaʊə(r)/ |
| enlightened |
开明的；有见识的 |
/ɪnˈlaɪtnd/ |
| selfinterest |
自身利益 |
/ˈself ˈɪntrəst/ |
| benign |
良性的；和蔼的；温和的 |
/bɪˈnaɪn/ |
| efficacy |
功效；效力；效能 |
/ˈefɪkəsi/ |
| slander |
诽谤；诋毁 |
/ˈslændə(r)/ |
| imperialist |
帝国主义的 |
/ɪmˈpɪəriəlɪst/ |
| unilaterally |
单方面地 |
/ˌjuːnɪˈlætrəli/ |
| disarm |
解除武装；裁军；使无害 |
/dɪsˈɑːm/ |
| gut |
取出内脏；毁坏内部；勇气；胆量；直觉 |
/ˈɡʌt/ |
| transactional |
交易的；事务性的 |
/ˈtrænzækʃənl/ |
| dispense |
分配；分发；施予；执行；免除 |
/dɪˈspens/ |
| nicety |
细微之处；精确性；美好 |
/ˈnaɪsəti/ |
| a strip - down |
精简；缩减 |
/ə ˈstrɪp daʊn/ |
| deportation |
驱逐出境；放逐 |
/ˌdepɔːˈteɪʃn/ |
| resentment |
怨恨；愤恨 |
/rɪˈzentmənt/ |
| cohort |
一群人；一组；同生群 |
/ˈkəʊhɔːt/ |
| pallid |
苍白的；暗淡的；无生气的 |
/ˈpælɪd/ |
| shortsightedness |
近视；目光短浅 |
/ˈʃɔːtsaɪtɪdnəs/ |
| incuriosity |
无好奇心；不感兴趣 |
/ˌɪnkjʊəriˈɒsəti/ |
| bonfire |
篝火；营火 |
/ˈbɒnfaɪə(r)/ |
| predatory |
掠夺性的；食肉的；捕食性的 |
/ˈpredətri/ |
| clog |
堵塞；阻塞 |
/ˈklɒɡ/ |
| persecuted |
受迫害的；persecute（迫害）的过去分词 |
/ˈpɜːsɪkjuːtɪd/ |
| Sigon |
西贡（可能是特定名称） |
/ˈsaɪɡən/ |
| vet |
审查；检查；诊疗；兽医；老兵 |
/ˈvet/（动词）/ˈvet/（名词） |
| amputation |
截肢；切断 |
/ˌæmpjuˈteɪʃn/ |
| impetitude |
急躁；鲁莽 |
/ɪmˈpetɪtjuːd/ |
| strand |
使搁浅；使滞留；线；股；缕 |
/ˈstrænd/ |
| devout |
虔诚的；笃信宗教的；热忱的 |
/dɪˈvaʊt/ |
| ardent |
热情的；热烈的；炽热的 |
/ˈɑːdənt/ |
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