Biden’s State Department spends millions to combat climate change and promote gender studies in Iraq.

Biden Administration to Spend Millions Teaching Iraqis About Climate Change and Gender Diversity

The State Department is offering three universities in Iraq up to $4 million each to develop programs that focus on gender issues and the impacts of climate change. The goal is to create “progressive curricula” that will strengthen the diversity of American-style Iraqi institutions of higher education. The programs must also have a recruitment plan for students who will work towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other areas related to climate change.

Exporting American Ideas to Foreign Countries

This grant is typical of Washington’s current effort to export American ideas to foreign countries through diplomacy and aid. However, the Biden administration has a long history of sending taxpayer money overseas for questionable left-wing initiatives. In 2023 alone, the administration has funded projects that aim to help disabled people in Tajikistan become “climate leaders,” develop a climate change podcast in India that inspires the country’s “changemakers” to live “lifestyles with more sustainable choices,” and teach Brazilian “trans activists” how to speak English.

Pushing for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The State Department grant also makes an explicit request for diversity, equity, and inclusion to be pushed on Iraqi universities, listing them as among the acceptable activities for funding. The department describes the need to focus on equity for “transgender and queer” Iraqis. When reviewing grant applications, the State Department will evaluate prospective grantees based on how well they “incorporate Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility” into their staffing.

Left-Wing Trustees on the Board

The American University of Iraq Sulaimani, one of the larger American-style institutions of higher education in the country, has a number of left-wing trustees on its board. Among them are Eli Sugarman, who served on Facebook’s content moderation oversight board and has criticized former president Donald Trump; David Skaggs, a former Democratic congressman with a liberal voting record; and Mina Al-Oraibi, a World Economic Forum-linked journalist.

The university, per its website, does not have a DEI office, but in 2017, it became the first university to offer a gender studies minor in Iraq. If approved for the State Department grant, the university could receive funding to establish a DEI office and expand its offerings on gender studies.