The World Beyond the Walls
Until the mid-2010s, rich democratic countries in the West sought to improve the lives of people in the Global South in various ways. They provided development aid, mediated peace agreements, deployed peacekeepers, and welcomed migrants and refugees. A decade later, every major form of Western engagement is in retreat. Although these trends are most visible in the United States under Donald Trump, they extend well beyond it.
The Decline of Development Aid
For decades, the West’s main tool in addressing poverty in the Global South was foreign aid. Trump’s dismantling of the US aid program is well-known: according to the OECD, US aid was halved from roughly $65 billion to $28 billion in a single year. But the US is not unique among Western donors. Aid from the UK, Germany and France peaked earlier, in 2019, 2022 and 2022, respectively. In total, official development assistance from OECD countries peaked in 2023 (at $230 billion) and fell to $165 billion in 2025, a decline of roughly 30%.
Less Mediation and Fewer Peacekeeping Missions
War is another major problem holding back the Global South, and there are more ongoing conflicts today than in recent decades. After the Cold War ended, Western countries sharply increased their involvement in peacemaking and peacekeeping (i.e. stopping wars and maintaining peace). During the 1990s and 2000s, approximately 20% of conflicts saw mediation attempts, usually led by Western diplomats or international organizations. Peacekeeping operations also expanded dramatically, often under United Nations mandates. Today, both trends have reversed. The share of mediated conflicts has steadily declined since the 2010s. The last new UN peacekeeping mission was authorized in 2014. Since then, several operations have closed, and the number of peacekeepers deployed globally has fallen by about 50% in the last decade. Once again, this is not simply an American story. The decline in Western conflict resolution began before Trump and extends well beyond the United States.
The Tightening of Migration Policies
Lastly, there is a broad retreat in migration policy. The Trump administration’s hostility toward migrants and refugees, especially those from poorer countries, is widely publicized, but many other Western countries have also adopted more restrictive migration policies. For example, governments in Australia, Italy and the UK have implemented or proposed deporting asylum-seekers to unsafe third countries even though this would violate international treaties. Meanwhile, the number of refugees and immigrants coming to Europe from non-EU countries has declined sharply in recent years.
The Causes and Costs of Retrenchment
Several forces are driving these changes. Economic growth in Europe has slowed significantly since the 2008 financial crisis, making voters more inclined to prioritize domestic programs over helping foreigners in distant countries or helping foreigners who arrive on their shores. Nativist and nationalist parties amplify concerns about migration by portraying immigrants as chief causes of public spending, unemployment and crime in the West, which is an exaggeration.
Of course, people can want governments to focus more on domestic problems. But turning inward does not eliminate global problems; it simply leaves fewer countries willing to address them. Moreover, it is unlikely to solve the real challenges that face Western societies. Slow growth, strained public finances and political polarization are overwhelmingly homegrown.
At the same time, the achievements of Western programs in improving the lives of people in the Global South do not receive the attention they deserve. For example, there is strong evidence that peacekeeping improves peace at a relatively low cost and financial aid improves public health in recipient countries. Unfortunately, these successes are less visible than the wars that continue or the poverty that persists. When people see only the problems that remain, it becomes easy to conclude that decades of efforts achieved little.
Engagement That Has Delivered Benefits
That conclusion would be a mistake. The West's engagement with the Global South has never been perfect, but it has produced real benefits. As the West shrinks its aid, scales back its peace efforts, and closes its borders, the costs will not disappear. They will simply be borne by the world's poorest people.
Therefore, rich democratic countries in the West should remain engaged with the Global South rather than follow Trump’s example. Decades of Western efforts have produced tangible results, and the vacuum left by the United States makes those efforts more necessary than ever.
