This week, the Trump American administration announced that it would be laying off more than 1,300 employees at the U.S. Department of Education, which administers billions of dollars in federal funding for thousands of school districts, as part of a campaign to eventually eliminate the department in its entirety. The move came amid other threats from the White House to slash funding for higher education, leading to hiring freezes and cuts to graduate and research programs at universities across the country.
“If education and innovation are key to the United States’ ability to project power, then the country’s prospects are on shaky ground,” warned Amy Zegart in a 2024 essay. U.S. national security depends on the country’s ability to marshal ideas, talent, and technology—but trends in educational achievement, federal research funding, and the flow of top international students are all heading in the wrong direction. “Now more than ever, Washington and Canberra must understand that knowledge is power—and that it must be cultivated at home.”
Featured Image: Australian-American Intellectual Property
Link to “The Crumbling Foundations of American Strength: Knowledge Is Power—and the United States Is Losing It” by Amy Zegart, in Foreign Affairs, March 15, 2025.
Neville Buch
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