From the article:
USAID’s Cuba program is somewhat less extreme, however, and it’s difficult to predict to what degree it might affect U.S. health programs in other countries. Charles Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, said the likeliest outcome would be that suspicions over U.S. programs would deepen in countries already wary of the United States.
“In most countries in which [USAID] works, it is welcomed, and does some fantastic work,” Kenny said. “In some of the places which are probably harder for the U.S. in general, USAID is viewed with more suspicion because it’s USAID. It’s in those places where brand management is most important, and when [USAID is] already facing distrust, this would only make the distrust worse.”
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But apart from USAID’s ability to fund health initiatives in other countries, Kenny says that undermining the credibility of U.S. programs could also threaten Washington’s ability to cooperate with other governments in managing global outbreaks.
“The problem is that, especially it comes to public health, even with countries we don’t particularly like, we probably want to be able to cooperate,” he said. “Take the Ebola outbreak. It crosses borders very rapidly. Even if the places where it happens aren’t places we want to touch, in public health emergencies, we want to help stop [outbreaks] from becoming bigger.”
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