fbpx A Vital Foreign Policy Tool Under Threat | Reconstructing Judaism

A Vital Foreign Policy Tool Under Threat

News

[This piece was originally published in the Jewish Exponent at this link: http://jewishexponent.com/2017/10/04/vital-foreign-policy-tool-threat/]

The Book of Genesis proclaims that every human being is created in the image of God, that every human life is infinitely precious. Every religious person and every humanist understands that we are all diminished by needless loss of life. My heart breaks when I hear about people dying of starvation, of AIDS and other controllable diseases, or of deaths in childbirth that could be easily prevented. I cannot be indifferent to such human tragedy — and neither should our government.

The United States has the capacity to save lives around the world at a minimal cost to Americans — and yet, it is threatening to withdraw its help, despite the enormous good it can do.

When President Trump released his proposal for the 2018 federal budget this May, his plan slashed the foreign assistance budget, which currently comprises only 1 percent of federal expenditures. Foreign aid is just a drop in the bucket when compared to Social Security, Medicare and military spending.

Fortunately, the fate of the U.S. budget has yet to be finalized, and there is still time to preserve the critical foreign aid programs that embody the values so many of us hold dear — that all human life is precious. As Congress debates the budget this fall, I hope they will consider the value of opening our hands to people in need around the world.

Why is foreign assistance important? Here are five reasons:

  1. It saves countless lives by providing food and health aid in the poorest countries in the world.
  2. It is a major way of generating goodwill for the United States around the globe and for building relationships that are critical to U.S. diplomacy.
  3. It strengthens the international commitment to democracy and equal rights.
  4. It helps local populations reduce the economic causes of insurgencies, which are a significant threat to world stability.
  5. It helps protect embattled minorities.

Foreign assistance plays a vital role in combating global poverty, the deadly effect of natural disasters and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It also strengthens world health systems. The shortage of inexpensive medicines is a cause of death for hundreds of thousands every year.  

Diplomacy, foreign assistance and military spending are the three pillars of American foreign policy. Weakening foreign assistance necessarily diminishes the American government’s effectiveness as a world power and increases the risk of war. China, Iran and Russia are three nations that have stepped up their presence through gifts, loans and military expansion, weakening the U.S. presence in key strategic areas such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia, as well as in Africa.

Foreign assistance is a relatively inexpensive way to ensure a favorable balance of power in the world. It would require a huge increase in military spending to make up for the loss of influence that flows through foreign assistance. Also, increasing the effectiveness of the United Nations also requires an engaged U.S. presence.

Cutting foreign aid would also mean the reduction of our voice for democracy, freedom of worship, and the rights of women and of LGBT people.

Wonderful not-for-profit organizations such as American Jewish World Service and CARE need to be able to count on partnership with the U.S. government if they are to have their full impact in South America, Africa and Asia. Ensuring that foreign assistance stays at least at current levels within the federal budget is an investment that will pay back handsomely in its impact on people’s lives, on world stabilization and on the influence of the U.S. around the globe.

Our senators and representatives need to hear from us that foreign assistance should be strengthened in the 2018 budget. Each of us can help save lives and build a more just and equitable world.

RRC: Professor Emeritus and Senior Consultant, Center for Jewish Ethics

Related Resources

News and Blogs

Does The Torah Require Us To Publicize Names Of Sexual Abusers?

What does Judaism teach us about how to respond to accusations of harassment or assault?

News

Making Our Synagogues Vessels of Tikkun Olam

This article is adapted from a talk at the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation Tikkun Olam Kallah, March 2003.

Document

Looking Backward and Looking Forward: Texts for a Jewish Resistance Movement

These materials explore Jewish models of resistance to oppression. 

Document
News and Blogs

Politics From The Pulpit: Speaking Publicly About Repairing The World Together

Reconstructionist Judaism takes seriously our obligation to act together to address injustice and suffering. To do so, Rabbi Elliot Tepperman argues, our congregations need to be places where we can safely engage in political and ethical agitation and disagreement, while avoiding mere irritation.

News

From Tzedakah to Restorative Finance: A Curriculum

This Reconstructionist curriculum on wealth inequality was written for the movement’s Tikkun Olam commission in the winter of 5777 (2016-2017).

Document

Eco-Judaism (Is There Any Other Kind?!):  How Torah Pushes the Sustainability Envelope

“Love of the Creator, and love of that which G!d has created, are finally one and the same,” wrote Martin Buber.  Defending this divine creation in an era of climate change is a Jewish (and social, political, and moral) imperative.

Video

A Yizkor Prayer for Righteous Gentiles

A child of Holocaust survivors, Rani Jaegar composed a yizkor prayer for Righteous Gentiles that is unique and breaks new ground. It tells the story of those who saw suffering and knew how to find their humanity. It remembers that “righteousness is an everlasting foundation” that breaks boundaries.

Article

How to Build Just and Holy Congregations

Tepperman encourages sustained congregational dialogue and action around social, environmental and political justice.

Article
News and Blogs

Voters Must Act Against Demagoguery

RRC President Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., was among the 18,000 people in the audience for Donald Trump’s March 21 speech to the AIPAC Policy Conference. Her response was published in The Philadelphia Inquirer  under the title “Voters Must Act Against Demagoguery.” 

News

Political Activism as a Form of Prayer

Rather than seeing religion and political activism as two distinct phenomena, we can experience activism as a powerful form of prayer.

Article
News and Blogs

Welcoming the Stranger, Living Our Values

In an op-ed piece in Philadelphia’s Jewish Exponent, Rabbi Deborah Waxman, Ph.D., compellingly argues in favor of a robust and compassionate refugee program. 

News

His Blood Cries Out for Faith and Love

Reacting to time spent with civil rights leader John Lewis, Rabbi Mordechai Liebling reflects on faith, progress, and justice.

Article