US funding of political think tanks is bad news for global development

The Trumpification of immigration and foreign policy has harmed Americans and international allies alike. The Trumpification of global development policy is unlikely to be any different

With help from far-right think tanks, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is being Trumpified. A new policy shifts USAID’s focus away from international development and toward a vision that caters to the narrow interests of a small group of wealthy Americans. Key to this change is the use of a new set of criteria developed by right-wing organizations.

As social scientists, we know that metrics profoundly shape what organizations do. That’s why we are concerned that USAID’s new grading system is lifted directly from highly political, conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and Legatum Institute. In this move,