Foreign strongmen cheer as Musk dismantles US aid agency

Zselyke Csaky, a senior research fellow at the Center for European Reform, calculated that the United States spends about $2 billion a year on direct democracy promotion programs, including both direct State Department funds and U.S.A.I.D. grants. Europe, she said, spends about $4 billion, and would need to spend about 50 percent more to make up the difference.

“I find that honestly quite unlikely,” Ms Csaky said.

The immediate problem, she said, is the speed of the dismantling. “This is happening right now, and I know many organizations that will need to shut down,” she said.

“By the time European countries respond,” she said, “there may not be much of the ecosystem to save.”