The former World Bank country director discussed her experiences in Myanmar and how they exemplify the broader shortcomings of global aid distribution at the Elliott School of International Affairs Thursday.

In a discussion hosted by the Leadership, Ethics and Practice Initiative, Ellen Goldstein, whose work at the World Bank primarily focused on Myanmar, shared her experience leading the World Bank’s foreign aid efforts and highlighted how her experiences expose flaws in current foreign aid models. Goldstein said the popularized foreign aid model is outdated and government-centric, which makes it difficult for countries to allocate sufficient attention and funding to global challenges, like climate change, pandemics and large-scale refugee crises. 

On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump and his administration moved to halt funding to foreign aid programs through the U.S. Agency for International Development and placed thousands of the agency’s workers on leave or laid them off entirely, sparking concern and protest across the country. 

Goldstein said she arrived in Myanmar in 2017 as the country transitioned to democracy under Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy. Goldstein said power remained split between the civilian government and the military, which enabled the military to commit human rights violations, including torturing and forcibly displacing minority groups, like the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Rakhine State.

“It’s hard to even put words to how bad it was in terms of indiscriminate killing, torture, rape and forced displacement of about three-quarters of million Rohingya who basically crossed the Naf River into Bangladesh, another country where I was the country director at one time in my career,” Goldstein said.

Goldstein said Myanmar had qualified for $200 million in budget support from the World Bank on April 27, 2017, by improving financial systems and increasing investments in health and education. However, she said she froze the funds over concerns that they could indirectly support the military government complicit in human rights abuses.

Goldstein said Myanmar is an example of the broader shortcomings of how the aid is distributed around the world today.

“I think what it really showed me is that the aid architecture itself had not really grappled with a more multipolar world that we are now in,” Goldstein said.

Goldstein said the state of foreign aid under the Trump administration was shifting, particularly in the wake of his decision to dismantle USAID.

The Trump administration in January began dismantling USAID by terminating over 90 percent of its foreign aid contracts, closing its headquarters and laying off thousands of staff. This action, initiated by a 90-day review and subsequent executive order, has halted global humanitarian programs. 

“My opinion is that this is doing long-term damage to U.S. standing in the world,” Goldstein said. “If you want to make America great or keep America great, you actually need the full toolkit of hard and soft power, ranging from direct military intervention to diplomacy to development to humanitarian to cultural exchanges. I mean, you need it all.”

Goldstein said the Trump administration is going to “smash everything” as it relates to the current foreign aid models today. She said that in time the United States will need soft power from foreign aid models and the United States will recreate new models.

“What I will say is that I am guaranteeing you that within six months of today, the Trump administration is going to start to recreate foreign aid modalities that they like,” Goldstein said.