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Nonilex<p>~400 people were fired in recent days from <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/humanitarian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>humanitarian</span></a> assistance positions…. ~200 of those were contractors for the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, …&amp; another 200 were part of a unit called the Support Relief Group, a collection of <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/crisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>crisis</span></a> experts who helped the bureau in responding quickly to <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/NaturalDisasters" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NaturalDisasters</span></a> &amp; armed conflicts. Now only about a dozen people remain in that group.</p><p><a href="https://masto.ai/tags/USAID" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USAID</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/MassFirings" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MassFirings</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Musk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Musk</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/USpol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USpol</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/geopolitics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>geopolitics</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/SoftPower" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SoftPower</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/ForeignPolicy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ForeignPolicy</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/TheCrueltyIsThePoint" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TheCrueltyIsThePoint</span></a></p>
Nonilex<p>In addition, 36 people were fired from the Office of Transition Initiatives, a unit in the agency’s conflict prevention bureau that specializes in helping partner countries with political transitions &amp; <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/democratic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>democratic</span></a> initiatives, said US officials &amp; recent agency employees.</p><p><a href="https://masto.ai/tags/USAID" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USAID</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/MassFirings" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MassFirings</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Musk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Musk</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/USpol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USpol</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/geopolitics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>geopolitics</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/SoftPower" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SoftPower</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/ForeignPolicy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ForeignPolicy</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Diplomacy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Diplomacy</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/TheCrueltyIsThePoint" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TheCrueltyIsThePoint</span></a></p>
Nonilex<p><a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> appointees have fired or put on paid leave thousands of employees of <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/USAID" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USAID</span></a> A task force of young engineers working for <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/ElonMusk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ElonMusk</span></a> [<a href="https://masto.ai/tags/DOGE" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DOGE</span></a>] has shut down many technical systems in the <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/aid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>aid</span></a> agency &amp; barred employees from their email accounts. <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Musk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Musk</span></a> has posted dark <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/ConspiracyTheories" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ConspiracyTheories</span></a> about USAID on social media, asserting with no evidence that it is a “criminal organization” &amp; that it was “time for it to die.”</p><p><a href="https://masto.ai/tags/USpol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USpol</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/geopolitics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>geopolitics</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/SoftPower" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SoftPower</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/ForeignPolicy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ForeignPolicy</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Diplomacy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Diplomacy</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/TheCrueltyIsThePoint" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TheCrueltyIsThePoint</span></a></p>
Nonilex<p><a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> Appointees Fire Hundreds at <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/USAID" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USAID</span></a> Working on Urgent <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Aid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Aid</span></a></p><p>The firings added to doubts about whether Secretary of <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/State" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>State</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/MarcoRubio" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MarcoRubio</span></a>, the agency’s acting head, supports lifesaving <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/humanitarian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>humanitarian</span></a> assistance, as he has said he does.</p><p><a href="https://masto.ai/tags/USpol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USpol</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/geopolitics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>geopolitics</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/SoftPower" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SoftPower</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/ForeignPolicy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ForeignPolicy</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Diplomacy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Diplomacy</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/TheCrueltyIsThePoint" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TheCrueltyIsThePoint</span></a> <br><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/us/politics/usaid-urgent-aid-firings.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">nytimes.com/2025/02/22/us/poli</span><span class="invisible">tics/usaid-urgent-aid-firings.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare</span></a></p>
Nonilex<p>In response, Judge Ali, a Biden appointee, issued a temporary <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/injunction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>injunction</span></a> saying that the <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> admin could not freeze <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/ForeignAid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ForeignAid</span></a> spending that predates Trump’s inauguration, nor could it fire or suspend workers associated w/those spending projects.</p><p>The ruling reverses a decision that had thrown into turmoil programs that provide <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/shelter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>shelter</span></a> for millions of people &amp; fight <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/hunger" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>hunger</span></a> &amp; <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/illness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>illness</span></a> around the globe.</p><p><a href="https://masto.ai/tags/TheCrueltyIsThePoint" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TheCrueltyIsThePoint</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/law" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>law</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/geopolitics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>geopolitics</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/USpol" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USpol</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/aid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>aid</span></a> <a href="https://masto.ai/tags/SoftPower" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SoftPower</span></a></p>
Emeritus Prof Christopher May<p>The idea that a group of the 'great &amp; good' can help the UK engineer an improvement in its 'soft power' seems to me to misunderstand how soft power works.... you don't wield soft power, rather you (global) actions result in soft power when others regard your actions as influential or requiring their adjustment.... so the biggest damage done to the UK's soft power was likely Brexit &amp; no amount of chatting &amp; strategising is going to do much to reverse that!</p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/SoftPower" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SoftPower</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jan/17/cultural-figures-and-royals-to-boost-uk-global-influence-in-soft-power-council" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/j</span><span class="invisible">an/17/cultural-figures-and-royals-to-boost-uk-global-influence-in-soft-power-council</span></a></p>