The decline and fall of NGOs

(Image: Getty)

Sun, 10 Aug 2025

By Walter Russel MeadAn article in Foreign Affairs, the leading voice of what remains of the US foreign-policy establishment, was stark and, for some, terrifying. “The End of the Age of NGOs?” the headline asked, and the subhead brought the bad news: “How Civil Society Lost Its Post-Cold War Power.”Authors Sarah Bush and Jennifer Hadden put their fingers on one of the most important international developments of our time. After the Cold War, human-rights, development and democracy promotion groups, nominally private...

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