Peace & Security Aid in Crisis
Publisher: Global Public Policy Institute
Author(s): Melissa Li, Maximilian Biller, and Philipp Rotmann
Date: 2026
Topics: Governance, Humanitarian Assistance, Peace and Security Operations
While global political violence has almost doubled since 2020, President Trump’s destruction of USAID, the United States’ aid agency, accelerates and drastically worsens a sharp downward trend in non-military peace and security assistance among many donors. In 2025, as this study shows, we may see 34 percent less global investment in peace and security compared to the 2021-2023 average. This analysis shows how donors allocate money and power, and how not only investment in peace and security in general but also the commitment to locally-led peacebuilding in particular are deeply in crisis, and offers a way out.