Development Policy – Debating Development Research

13/05/2025

The End of Development Aid?

By Aram Ziai

In the last few months, our object of research has seen some dramatic changes. I am referring to the de-facto dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) after the inauguration of President trump in January 2025. The USA has been by far the largest donor of Official Development Assistance (ODA) during the past decades (although in relation to its GDP it has been among the less generous). In February 2025, the Trump administration has announced to eliminate more than 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and 60 billion US-$ in assistance.

03/04/202503/04/2025

The New Washington Dissensus: Trump’s Five Principles for Development Cooperation

By Andy Sumner and Stephan Klingebiel

The Trump administration has set out to radically reshape U.S. foreign aid, pushing the “America First” agenda to ensure every dollar spent abroad serves American interests.

The latest indication comes in the form of a 36-question survey sent to international organizations and NGOs that are USAID recipients, effectively forcing them to justify their alignment with U.S. sovereignty, national security, and economic interests. This questionnaire is more than bureaucratic red tape—it is a litmus test for ideological compliance with Trumpism.

11/03/2025

Decolonizing Policy Advice: The Oxymoronic Nature of Danish Researchers Advising a Danish Ministry on a Danish Plan for Africa

By Adam Moe Fejerskov, Mikkel Funder and Nauja Kleist / part of our “Share your Decolonising Story” project

Denmark has a new strategy for engaging with Africa. In this blog follow some reflections on how we at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) collaborated with colleagues in African research institutions to turn the usual North-driven ”Policy Brief” on its head. Because who gets to influence development policy in European capitals? Who should influence development policy in European capitals? And should European capitals at all be making strategies and plans for Africa?

14/01/2025

Navigating France’s Political Landscape: Implications for International Development Aid

By Hugo Pilkington / Part of the European Development Policy Outlook Series

Amid a welter of political drama, and after having successfully hosted the Summer 2024 Olympic games, France is struggling to find a stable government. The country still has no budget for 2025. This is not the norm (the last time anything roughly similar happened was in 1979) but can be said to proceed from the unusual events of Mid-2024. The current political conundrum arose on the heels of a snap election called, in a surprise move, by Emmanuel Macron, following disastrous results for his own political movement – Ensemble pour la République – during the European elections of June 9, 2024.

10/12/202414/01/2025

Where is UK Development Policy Headed Under the New Government?

By Andy Sumner / Part of the European Development Policy Outlook Series

Chancellor unmoved by cuts of aid budget

The headline is that the UK aid budget was cut by £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion). Despite the flags, it seems the Chancellor was unwilling or unable to provide additional funds to offset the billions of pounds of the UK’s aid budget spent on supporting refugees inside the UK. This makes her the first Labou r chancellor to cut aid below levels of a prior Conservative government.