THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026 23 More recently, a Rockefeller Foundation report, “An American Perspective on Foreign Aid,” published June 30, 2026, found that a year after USAID’s dismantlement, a majority (54 percent) across the political spectrum remain favorable toward U.S. foreign aid, and eight in 10 (including 83 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning respondents) say the path forward is to reform and strengthen foreign aid, not eliminate it. This study also shows that “support grows significantly when Americans understand what these programs do, what they cost, and the results they achieve.” Humanitarian and disaster relief and preventing disease outbreaks receive the most support, at 90 percent of respondents; support for global health, economic development, and peacekeeping follows; and support for democracy promotion is lowest, at 72 percent. Significantly, seven in 10 support setting foreign aid at 2 percent of the annual budget, which would double its pre-2025 level, and that willingness extends across party lines. The data are unambiguous: Broad, bipartisan support exists for foreign assistance. The challenge is translating that support into political will—and communicating it with the clarity the American public deserves. Think tanks, leaders in philanthropy, and many other groups have put out papers with recommendations over the past year on the future of foreign assistance. I have been part of many of these discussions and am often struck by how little participation there is by the actual practitioners who worked overseas. As a result, I think it’s important to highlight one set of recommendations (see sidebar opposite) drafted by 72 former USAID mission directors and other senior development leaders one year ago, on September 2, 2025, just after losing their jobs. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the recommendations, it is inspiring to think the authors had just lived through the worst professional experience of their lives and still found the energy and courage to come together to share their thoughts on what needs to come next. But then again, we were trained to respond to disasters, and that’s exactly what we will continue to do—because too many lives are at stake to just stay home and do nothing. n
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