On January 20, 2025, his first day in office, U.S. President Donald Trump signaled a pivotal turnaround in U.S. foreign policy, paving the way for arguably the most consequential shift since the September 11, 2001, attacks. In a single stroke, Trump imposed a 90-day freeze on all aid programs. TheContinue Reading
On March 28, what is being called a once-in-a-century earthquake struck central Myanmar, devastating huge swathes of the war-torn country. The cities of Mandalay and Sagaing, along with the administrative capital Naypyidaw and villages in the famed Inle Lake region in Shan State have seen widespread and catastrophic death andContinue Reading
I’m standing before enough heavy weaponry to level a football stadium. The bombs are arranged on a raised concrete platform behind a building site. They sit, sunbaked and rusting, in informal rows amid a scattering of mines, mortar shells, and beer bottles. Each looks menacing, from the hulking cigar-shaped canistersContinue Reading
After U.S. President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January 2025, one of his very first actions was issuing a 90-day freeze on all foreign aid. In subsequent weeks, Trump and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – which, despite its name, is not an official government department – movedContinue Reading
The Trump administration is terminating almost all foreign assistance grants to Central Asian countries, according to a document reportedly sent to the U.S. Congress this week outlining canceled and retained U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs. If the document matches reality, it not only marks a devastating blow toContinue Reading
On March 10, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio tweeted that 83 percent of the 6,200 projects run by USAID globally would be shut down. While it wasn’t stated exactly which programs were to be terminated, a leaked document from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee provides some insight. This documentContinue Reading
On February 12, a parliamentary inquiry regarding a foreign agent law was presented to the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament. The bill was presented by five parliamentarians led by Irina Smirnova from the People’s Party of Kazakhstan. The group cited a desire for greater sovereignty as the rationale behind theContinue Reading
The abrupt suspension of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funding by the new Donald Trump administration in early 2025 has cast a dark shadow over Mongolia’s civil society and geopolitical balance. The aid freeze is affecting many local actors who were delivering essential services and advocacy support on sensitiveContinue Reading
