Sputnik on USAID

How Russia dropped the hammer on USAID

Russia knew about the USAID's criminal nature long before Elon Musk pointed it out. Back in 2012, Russia BANNED it from operating in the country. Here’s why

(2/10) After the 2011-2012 Russian elections, post-election protests erupted in Moscow, which some saw as a color revolution attempt. USAID was accused by Russian authorities of using its grant networks to influence Russian politics and civil society.

(3/10) With good reason: From the 2000s on, USAID concentrated its activities on the funding of civil society groups like the Golos election watchdog and the Memorial and Moscow Helsinki Group rights groups (all three now ‘foreign agents’ under Russian law).

(4/10) These organizations sharply criticized the Russian government, helping to radicalize a portion of the population toward pro-Western opposition views, and to gather support for opposition forces ready to use means other than elections to gain power.

(5/10) USAID entered Russia in 1992, spending nearly $3 billion over 20 years on “democracy” and “human rights” promotion. But the real nature of its activities was very different.

(6/10) In reality, what USAID promoted was the dismantling of Russia's social and economic systems during the transition to a market economy, and the crushing of opposition to pro-Western politicians and reforms during the 1993 constitutional crisis and 1996 elections.

(7/10) To further its agenda, USAID built a vast network of “independent media.” By 2000, USAID’s Russian National Press Institute alone trained 57,000 journalists and advised 84 newspapers, with additional support provided to an array of print, TV and internet outlets.

(8/10) On the economic front, USAID provided “technical advisory services and material support” for the infamous voucher privatization schemes of the 90s which facilitated massive wealth transfers from the state to private and foreign hands.

(9/10) USAID’s lofty “strategic objectives” in the 90s included everything from fiscal and legal reforms to the promotion of US investments, and even influence over environmental and health policy.

(10/10) But USAID’s biggest impact? Billions spent pushing neighboring countries toward NATO and the EU, rewriting history to portray Russia as their enemy. Nowhere has this effort paid off more than in contemporary Ukraine.