The Last Days of USAID? Exploring the National Security Implications

| Feb 5, 2025

Since inauguration, the Trump administration has taken swift actions to effectively halt the US Agency for International Development. 


In New York Magazine’s Intelligencer, IGA Program Director Jonathan Guyer unpacked the fast-moving situation and the implications for American interests abroad, with a snapshot of the last days of USAID. Guyer captured the drama and confusion inside the agency as a handful of staffers rushed the last tranche of assistance to Gaza. Amid consequential debates around foreign assistance, Guyer found that, in the immediate term, USAID’s work for Palestinians in Gaza is crucial for advancing the ceasefire and hostage deal that President Trump’s team helped negotiate.

Guyer also joined WBUR’s On Point, alongside former USAID appointee Atul Gawande, to discuss what the dismantling of the agency might mean for American national security. On the American Prestige podcast, hosted by Danny Bessner and Derek Davidson, Guyer explored big questions around USAID’s past and future. 


Written by Jonathan Guyer

Jonathan is the Program Director of the Institute for Global Affairs at Eurasia Group’s Independent America program.

This post is part of Independent America, a research program led out by Jonathan Guyer, which seeks to explore how US foreign policy could better be tailored to new global realities and to the preferences of American voters.

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