Washington, D.C. — President Donald Trump’s war of choice against Iran is generating a devastating food and health crisis, made far worse by his administration’s gutting of the global humanitarian system.
A new analysis from the Center for American Progress finds that the consequences of Trump’s war are reverberating around the world, from farms in South Africa to factories across Asia to gas stations in the United States and beyond. One of the consequences is an emerging global hunger and health crisis that is both unnecessary and made worse by the other actions taken by the Trump administration both at home and abroad.
“The president’s war with Iran has created a preventable global hunger and health crisis,” said Jessica Keller, senior policy and program manager of Global Progress Action at CAP and co-author of the analysis. “Around the world, children are losing access to lifesaving nutrition, farmers risk lower crop yields, and millions will be pushed into acute hunger. The situation is even worse because the administration has dismantled the foreign aid infrastructure that many of the world’s most vulnerable countries rely on in times of crisis.”
Even before the war began, more than 670 million people—about 8 percent of the world’s population—were experiencing hunger, with famine conditions concentrated in crisis hot spots such as Sudan, South Sudan, Gaza, and Yemen. The World Food Program warns that if the conflict persists through June and oil prices remain high, an additional 45 million people will be pushed into acute hunger.
The Trump administration’s cuts to humanitarian aid, food assistance, and global health come at a time when its war in Iran is fueling the very crises that this assistance is meant to mitigate. The global hunger and health emergency unfolding right now around the world is the direct, foreseeable consequence of a war of choice waged without a plan for the humanitarian fallout.
Read the analysis: “Trump’s War of Choice With Iran Threatens a Global Hunger and Health Crisis” by Jessica Keller and Ryan Mulholland
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