Anne Applebaum

My book, Autocracy Inc., is about the ways in which the autocratic world is seeking to have economic and cultural and propaganda influence all over the world, and they're competing directly with us. us, the US, plus our allies, or maybe our former allies, as it might turn out. But one of the ways in which we compete is that we have, you know, ways of reaching people that they don't.

And one of them is through our, I mean, just focus on USAID health services alone. You know, we provide a lot of health services to the very, very poorest people on the planet. We're known for that, you know, in a lot of the world, that's what the US stands for. It's an important bulwark against Chinese influence campaigns and Russian influence campaigns and so on.

And one of them is through our, I mean, just focus on USAID health services alone. You know, we provide a lot of health services to the very, very poorest people on the planet. We're known for that, you know, in a lot of the world, that's what the US stands for. It's an important bulwark against Chinese influence campaigns and Russian influence campaigns and so on.

And one of them is through our, I mean, just focus on USAID health services alone. You know, we provide a lot of health services to the very, very poorest people on the planet. We're known for that, you know, in a lot of the world, that's what the US stands for. It's an important bulwark against Chinese influence campaigns and Russian influence campaigns and so on.

So by destroying that, we are destroying one of our most important assets. We're destroying one of the things we're known for. I mean, there's another aspect of the USAID thing that's really important. Another thing the USAID has got more involved in over the last 20 years is democracy promotion. So it's not just vaccines. It's also support for civic organizations, sometimes for independent media.

So by destroying that, we are destroying one of our most important assets. We're destroying one of the things we're known for. I mean, there's another aspect of the USAID thing that's really important. Another thing the USAID has got more involved in over the last 20 years is democracy promotion. So it's not just vaccines. It's also support for civic organizations, sometimes for independent media.

So by destroying that, we are destroying one of our most important assets. We're destroying one of the things we're known for. I mean, there's another aspect of the USAID thing that's really important. Another thing the USAID has got more involved in over the last 20 years is democracy promotion. So it's not just vaccines. It's also support for civic organizations, sometimes for independent media.

And this has been a Republican and Democrat, you know, have supported this. This is not- IRI was involved, like the International Republican- So IRI is not part of USAID. I'm not sure actually.

And this has been a Republican and Democrat, you know, have supported this. This is not- IRI was involved, like the International Republican- So IRI is not part of USAID. I'm not sure actually.

And this has been a Republican and Democrat, you know, have supported this. This is not- IRI was involved, like the International Republican- So IRI is not part of USAID. I'm not sure actually.

I'll explain. I'll get to that in a second. So You know, there's something called the National Endowment for Democracy, which I used to be on the board of, under which is IRI, the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute. They do a lot of direct democracy funding, too. And Musk has also been tweeting about them and how bad they are.

I'll explain. I'll get to that in a second. So You know, there's something called the National Endowment for Democracy, which I used to be on the board of, under which is IRI, the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute. They do a lot of direct democracy funding, too. And Musk has also been tweeting about them and how bad they are.

I'll explain. I'll get to that in a second. So You know, there's something called the National Endowment for Democracy, which I used to be on the board of, under which is IRI, the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute. They do a lot of direct democracy funding, too. And Musk has also been tweeting about them and how bad they are.

USAID, in addition, also does some of the same kind of stuff. It may be that we now have, and this, I just don't know whether, I don't know whether Trump himself knows about this or who exactly is. It may be that we're not going to do that anymore. You know, we don't stand for democracy anymore. And so we won't promote democracy anymore. And so all the institutions and organizations

USAID, in addition, also does some of the same kind of stuff. It may be that we now have, and this, I just don't know whether, I don't know whether Trump himself knows about this or who exactly is. It may be that we're not going to do that anymore. You know, we don't stand for democracy anymore. And so we won't promote democracy anymore. And so all the institutions and organizations

USAID, in addition, also does some of the same kind of stuff. It may be that we now have, and this, I just don't know whether, I don't know whether Trump himself knows about this or who exactly is. It may be that we're not going to do that anymore. You know, we don't stand for democracy anymore. And so we won't promote democracy anymore. And so all the institutions and organizations

that have been doing that in many cases very successfully. A lot of what IRI and NDI do is just to do with direct relations with other political parties around the world. It's, you know, it's like a second tier level of foreign policy. I mean, some of it isn't even just about funding.

that have been doing that in many cases very successfully. A lot of what IRI and NDI do is just to do with direct relations with other political parties around the world. It's, you know, it's like a second tier level of foreign policy. I mean, some of it isn't even just about funding.

that have been doing that in many cases very successfully. A lot of what IRI and NDI do is just to do with direct relations with other political parties around the world. It's, you know, it's like a second tier level of foreign policy. I mean, some of it isn't even just about funding.

It's about like, you know, the IRI would have relationships with conservative parties in Europe and NDI would have relationships with center left parties. And, you know, there are a lot of other things that those organizations do that have been really, really important in maintaining the role of the U.S. as the leader of a broad democratic alliance.