The US government under President Donald Trump has announced a comprehensive shakeup of the US development aid agency USAID. The talk ranges from restructuring or integration into the State Department to complete closure of the organization. Immediately after the announcement, USAID funding was frozen for an initial 90 days and thousands of employees and contractors worldwide are laid off. With the end of USAID as we know it, a fundamental upheaval in international development cooperation and democracy promotion is imminent.
Author: Julia Leininger
Dr. Julia Leininger leitet die Forschungsabteilung „Transformation politischer (Un-)Ordnung“ am German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS). Ihre Arbeitsschwerpunkte umfassen Demokratieförderung und Demokratieschutz, Autokratisierung, Zukunftsszenarien sowie Gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt und Krisenprävention. Sie ist über das Forschungsnetzwerk Externe Demokratieförderung (EDP) mit dem PRIF verbunden. // Dr Julia Leininger is Head of the Research Department “Transformation of political (dis-)order”. Her work areas include democracy protection, autocratization, scenario of political and sustainable futures and social cohesion and crisis prevention. She is affiliated with PRIF through the Research Network External Democracy Promotion.
