Pursuant to an executive order issued on his first day in office calling for a ninety-day pause in foreign development assistance pending a review of alignment with US policies and efficiencies, the Department of State head Marco Rubio notified diplomatic staff worldwide that there will be stoppage to all work, according to a leaked memo, affecting all development aid and military assistance—with certain carve-outs for Israel, Egypt and emergency food programmes. 
Heretofore, America has been the largest donor country of global support (not without serious missteps and certainly not the only country with such largess—see previously, see also), disbursing some sixty-eight billion dollars annually for a range of projects from access to clean water, infrastructure, population health and disease monitoring, educational outreach, disaster relief, sanitation and shelter and defence, and comes at a crucial juncture for Ukraine and during the surge for humanitarian assistance for Gaza after the ceasefire, as well as hunger crises in Africa and elsewhere. The “stop work” order further is not forwarding US geopolitical influence in abandoning its network of international partnership nor serving its commercial interest as the majority of goods and services financed are sourced from US suppliers.
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica) plus more lit crit terms
seven years ago: more links to enjoy, the hidden history of saffron cultivation plus early casualties of Trump’s policies
eight years ago: sophisticated gene therapies, alternate truths plus even more links
nine years ago: first flight of the Concorde plus the chemistry of body-wash
ten years ago: NPR’s Invisibilia podcast
