A New Paradigm for Aid
In the wake of the 2025 collapse of USAID and the sharpest UK aid cuts in history, The Policy Practice Director Neil McCulloch is calling for a bold shift in how international aid is conceived and delivered. Current debates on how to restructure aid focus on how to “do more with less” e.g. by focussing on multilateral institutions, fragile states, humanitarian aid, or soft power. Instead, Neil proposes a “transformational” approach to aid that prioritises coalitions of domestic changemakers. Drawing on political economy analysis, McCulloch advocates identifying and supporting local actors with the potential to drive meaningful reform in their own societies. This means moving away from imposing external solutions and towards a model of adaptive, low-cost, and politically informed engagement.
His model emphasises experimentation, local ownership, and a blending of development, diplomacy, and security tools to support sustainable change. McCulloch suggests that the UK and US aid sector’s recent dismantling could open the door for this leaner, more effective approach—one rooted in how real development has historically occurred. The blog calls for a reimagining of aid as a long-term, locally driven process, not just a transaction for measurable results.
This post was originally published on the LSE Activism, Influence and Change Programme blog here.
The Politics of the Energy Transition in the Global South Webinar Series
The Policy Practice, in partnership with the Thinking and Working Politically Community of Practice (TWP-CoP) and other partners is running a series of workshops looking at different aspects of the energy transition from a political economy perspective.
The first webinar was on The Political Economy of Country Platforms. It was held on 15 January and was led and hosted by ODI. The slides from the webinar can be found here. A write up with the key takeaway message of the webinar can be found here.
Governance in a new development paradigm: Reformer leadership and partnership humility
This Working Paper, written by TPP Principal Wilfred Mwamba, calls for a major shift in how international actors support governance. It shows reforms only endure when domestic reformers lead, urging partners to drop “performance theatre” and back genuine, locally led, politically grounded change.
Reducing violence against defenders of the Amazon: a political economy approach
This Working Paper by TPP Principal Niki Palmer explores why environmental defenders in Brazil’s Amazon face persistent violence. It shows how powerful economic interests and competing ideas about the Amazon fuel conflict and impunity. It outlines three realistic pathways to strengthen protections, shift incentives toward conservation and reduce violence.