The United States is sending a three-person disaster response team to earthquake-stricken Myanmar, days after much larger contingents from China and Russia began pulling people out of the rubble.
The scaled-down response was evidence of the US's abdication of its role as a world leader, said Jeremy Konyndyk, a former lead for disaster relief at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
"It's not a case of worst-practice, it's really a case of no-practice," Mr Konyndyk, who is now president of Refugees International, told the ABC.
"It just makes the US look, frankly, kind of weak and irrelevant to most of the other countries that have shown up in force to support the people of Myanmar."
The New York Times reported the US team was expected to arrive on Wednesday — five days after the 7.7-magnitude earthquake flattened large parts of the country's biggest cities on Friday.
The death toll according to Myanmar's ruling junta, known as the State Administrative Council (SAC), stands at more than 2,700.
However, the US Geological Survey's predictive modelling has estimated it could eventually surpass 10,000.
United Nations officials who surveyed earthquake damage in Myanmar on Tuesday urged the global community to ramp up aid before the looming monsoon season worsens already catastrophic conditions.
Drinking water, hygiene, food, shelter and medicine were the most critical needs following extensive damage to buildings, roads and bridges, said Marcoluigi Corsi, acting humanitarian and resident coordinator.
On Sunday, the US embassy in Myanmar announced a contribution of up to $US2 million in aid.
US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the assessment team of three people would "identify the people's most pressing needs, including emergency shelter, food, medical needs and access to water".
Mr Konyndyk said the first five days after a disaster was the key time-frame for finding people alive.
"The US has missed that window, and the cost of that is lost lives of people who could have been saved in Myanmar," he said.
Adam Simpson, a senior lecturer in international studies at the University of South Australia, told the ABC the US contribution "compared unfavourably" with the 225 USAID workers and $US185 million sent to Türkiye and Syria after the earthquake there in 2023.
"The Trump administration's paltry efforts in this regard are an insult to the people of Myanmar," he said.
"These puny contributions are also a neat demonstration of the waning global influence and soft power of the US."
What have other countries sent?
Immediately after the earthquake, Myanmar's isolated military junta issued a rare plea for international help.
China responded by sending about 200 rescue specialists, with the first group arriving the day after the earthquake.
According to Chinese state media, they had pulled at least eight survivors from the rubble of damaged buildings as of Tuesday morning.
Beijing has also pledged about $US14 million in emergency aid.
On Tuesday, Chinese foreign affairs spokesperson Mao Ning posted a video on X of the Chinese team's efforts with the line: "China, a friend in need".
Moscow sent two aircraft with more than 120 rescuers, medics and sniffer dogs who arrived on Sunday.
Other countries with rescue teams already in the country include India, Singapore and Malaysia.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Wednesday said a rapid response team had been mobilised through Australia Assists, to help coordinate disaster relief efforts on the ground.
Senator Wong also said the government would provide an extra $7 million aid on top of $2 million announced on the weekend.
The death knell for USAID
The earthquake rocked Myanmar just as the Trump administration was announcing its final cuts to USAID, which has in the past organised the country's responses to disasters overseas.
USAID's remaining programs are being folded into the US State Department.
According to the New York Times, staff in USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance received agency-wide lay-off emails as they were preparing a response to the earthquake.
"We are reorienting our foreign assistance programs to align directly with what is best for the United States and our citizens," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
"We are continuing essential lifesaving programs and making strategic investments that strengthen our partners and our own country."
Ms Bruce, the State Department spokesperson, said on Friday USAID had "maintained a team of disaster experts with the capacity to respond if disaster strikes".
On Monday, she defended the US's response.
"I would reject the notion this is obviously a result of the USAID cuts," she said.
"We're certainly in the region.
"I would reject the premise that the sign of success is that we are physically there.
"The fact that we've got partners that we work with, that our goals can be achieved through the work that we do with others around the world, is something," she added.
Mr Konyndyk said that was "gaslighting".
"This [Myanmar response] is nothing like what the US has done in the past under Republican and Democratic administrations," he said.
"This is just a total withdrawal of the US from this prominent leadership role that we've had in the world."
Mr Konyndyk said the US helped design the system that countries use to respond to massive disasters and had historically been a leader in response and recovery.
He said previous emergencies, including the 2015 earthquake in Nepal that he helped manage, saw the US tip in millions of dollars worth of shelter, water sanitation, emergency food, aid and other relief supplies.
"The team that's going in is really just a small assessment team," he said.
"Very good, capable people, but nothing like the significant deployment that the US government would routinely do after any major natural disaster in the past."
Mr Konyndyk said for decades the US had led the world in global disaster response.
"It has really been a point of pride for the American people. It has been a strong symbol of both America's goodwill around the world and our solidarity with people who are suffering, but it's also a form of power projection.
"The fact that we can have the best search and rescue teams in the world, on site, anywhere in the word within a short window after a major disaster, helping to save lives, that is a really strong signal of American capability and that has now been destroyed."
A 'you're on your own' message
Dr Simpson, from the University of South Australia, said the US would remain a major global power and economy for some time — and a change of tack could turn its fortunes around.
"But the evidence of its trajectory towards isolation and diminution in global trade and politics is irrefutable," he said.
Dr Simpson said since World War II the US had generally been a "significant force" in the international community supporting democratic ideals and women's rights.
"This is no longer the case," he said.
"It shouldn't need saying that if China or Russia supplants the US as the go-to international player in times of crisis there will be little emphasis on democratic principles or human rights accompanying any support.
"Other governments in South-East Asia will, as with the rest of the world, continue to work with the US and Trump administration to provide a counterbalance to China, but it will be out of necessity rather than genuine affection and admiration."
In Mr Konyndyk's view, the step back by the US in response to the Myanmar earthquake should be a wake-up call to the rest of the world, including Australia.
"It's a 'you're on your own, don't look to us for help' message," he said.
