OPINION:
For nearly four decades in uniform, I saw firsthand what happens when America leads with conviction. I also saw what happens when we hesitate or retreat. The lesson is always the same: The U.S. has clear global influence. Peace is preserved by strength, and strength requires strategic global engagement. Today, the threats facing the United States are not hypothetical or distant. They are coordinated, authoritarian and expanding.
China and Russia are waging an aggressive campaign to fill the void wherever American leadership falters, and they’re not subtle about it. From Africa to Southeast Asia, their influence is expanding not through the strength of their ideas but through checkbook diplomacy, propaganda and coercion.
Our adversaries understand something we often forget: International assistance is not charity. When properly deployed, it’s a highly effective, strategic weapon. It strengthens alliances, stabilizes key regions and spreads American values far beyond our borders. This is why targeted, accountable international investments are essential.
Let me be clear. We are not talking about foreign giveaways with no oversight. Every program, every dollar must pass a simple test: Does it strengthen our security, protect our interests and keep us economically competitive? If the answer is yes, it’s not a handout. It’s a high-yield investment in our future, our economy and our national security. I have watched as this strategic assistance has strengthened democracies, reunified nations, ended genocide and given new generations a chance at success.
Additionally, when we help our allies build infrastructure, train security forces and strengthen border controls, we make them safer and ourselves safer.
When we deliver American grain instead of allowing Beijing to flood markets with its state-subsidized alternatives, we protect our farmers, open new markets and keep the global economy aligned with democratic norms.
When we export U.S. innovation and private enterprise, we offer nations better alternatives to the strings-attached authoritarianism of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The stakes could not be higher. A world without strong U.S. leadership quickly becomes fertile ground for extremism and organized crime. Fragile states don’t stay contained on their own. They become platforms for drug trafficking, terrorist recruitment and cyberattacks that hit Americans at home.
Pulling back doesn’t make those problems disappear. It means we must address them later, after they have become more dangerous and expensive.
Critics argue that foreign aid is wasteful and misaligned with America’s interests. When it is unaccountable and aimless, I tend to agree. However, when assistance is driven by clear strategy, measurable outcomes and shared values, it is a critical part of our national defense. It costs far less than military intervention and buys us what money can’t easily replace: credibility, influence and partnerships.
China and Russia are playing the long game. They are betting that America will grow tired, turn inward and leave the field open. If we cede that ground now, we may never get it back.
The path forward is clear: peace through engagement, presence and strength, not disengagement. Strategic, precision-driven investments protect our borders, bolster our economy and secure the rules-based order we have fought so hard to establish.
America cannot afford to step back. The cost of retreat is too high, and the consequences too grave. We must lead with conviction and ensure that wherever democracy hangs in the balance, the world knows America still stands tall.
• Gen. Victor E. “Gene” Renuart Jr. is a retired four-star general in the U.S. Air Force who helped build a coalition of 72 nations immediately after the 9/11 attacks and worked for two secretaries of defense. He retired in 2010 after almost 40 years of distinguished service, which culminated in his position as commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and the United States Northern Command.
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