Raj Kumar

With so much high drama in global development last year, it was hard to catch a breath and see the big picture. So let’s try. Two events that neatly bookended the year best make the point: At the start of the year, the world’s largest development agency, the U.S. Agency for International Development, was unceremoniously obliterated six decades after its founding.

MUNICH — The European Union faces increased pressure to fill critical gaps in democracy and development programs as U.S. foreign assistance cuts take hold, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference, addressing the Trump administration’s restructuring of USAID. During her speech at MSC, Metsola acknowledged a surge in requests for EU assistance from international partners grappling with potential U.S. funding gaps.

MUNICH — Despite a federal judge's order blocking the Trump administration's foreign assistance freeze on existing contracts, the attempted dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development could signal the beginning of a broader effort to reshape multiple federal agencies, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim has warned.