In early 2025, a series of sweeping presidential executive orders initiated a profound restructuring of American higher education. Chief among these actions is the Executive Order on Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing (White House, 2025), which mandates the elimination of all diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) programs from federal agencies, contractors, and grantees. This directive, combined with the withdrawal of the United States from key international organizations, signals a deliberate retreat from global cooperation and inclusive education diplomacy.

The consequences of these policies are already reverberating across higher education institutions. International faculty and students—many of whom contribute significantly to research and teaching in fields such as International Relations, Area Studies, and Multicultural Education—face deportation, surveillance, or exclusion (New York Times, 2025; USAID OIG Reports, 2024). The suspension of a Yale scholar based on an unverified AI-generated terrorism allegation (New York Times, 2025) illustrates the increasing vulnerability of academic freedom under politicized scrutiny. Simultaneously, elite institutions such as Harvard and Yale are under intense federal pressure to align with a redefined model of “merit-based” opportunity that excludes considerations of systemic inequality (Heller, New Yorker, 2025).

The defunding of USAID, once a pillar of American soft power and global engagement, further compounds this crisis. USAID’s Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy (2020) and GESI-integrated education initiatives such as Mexico’s ConJusticia and Uzbekistan’s TESOL 2022 represent best practices in promoting inclusive, localized development outcomes. Their dismantling raises serious questions about the future viability of international collaboration in education and development sectors.

This paper frames the current socio-political context through the lens of the Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) framework and draws on foundational theories of Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy, Geertz’s cultural dimensions, and the Johari Window model of reflexivity. These tools help faculty and institutions navigate the growing tensions between domestic policy shifts and global development values. The paper identifies the contradiction of U.S. institutions promoting GESI abroad while simultaneously restricting its practice at home—through measures such as anti-DEI legislation, book bans, and the erasure of multicultural curricula.

Despite these constraints, faculty can adopt subversive and strategic approaches to integrate inclusive frameworks in their teaching, research, and service.

Recommendations include:
- Embedding GESI principles through discipline-specific methodologies;
- Leveraging global virtual collaborations and non-federal funding mechanisms;
- Establishing institutional centers focused on equity research and inclusive pedagogy.

Ultimately, this paper calls for a reaffirmation of higher education’s role as a democratic and global enterprise. By reclaiming institutional autonomy, strengthening shared governance, and investing in transnational academic alliances, universities can push back against the narrowing of intellectual inquiry and uphold the core values of diversity, equity, and inclusion—especially in a climate where academic freedom is increasingly under threat in U.S.-based institutions.

Keywords: International Cooperation, Gender Equity, Social Inclusion, Higher Education Institutions, Education Policy.