The End of the Age of Intervention? Peace and Conflict in a Post-Aid World

This year’s postgraduate-led conference takes on the increasingly pressing and evolving challenge of aid provision in the international development community. The 12th Edition of the CSD Conference will explore the ways in which the nature of international aid has changed in recent years and how it has and will continue to impact conflict-affected regions. In addition to a lunch and a networking reception, these issues will be explored in depth through four panels, where experts will examine:

The End of Aid: Myth, Reality, or Transition? - Investigate the current debates around global development aid and its structural transformations in the international system. The panel will explore the geopolitics of developmental assistance, the decline in traditional aid, the emergence of new and non-traditional donors, and the reasons behind recent institutional shifts within USAID and the merging of DFID and how these changes signal recalibration in purpose and practice of aid.

The Changing Landscape of Aid: From State-Led Assistance to Private & Local Ownership - Delve further into the conceptual framework of aid, specifically exploring how global aid provision is being redefined in form, purpose, and motivation. The discussion will examine political, economic, and ideological forces that challenge traditional ODA models and will consider the implications of declining aid.

Life in the Vacuum: Post-aid Innovations & Adaptation Strategies - Consider the practical implications and smaller-scale impacts of shifting aid provision and priorities. Specifically, this panel will evaluate how these changes influence outcomes for vulnerable populations, ranging from broader socio-political backsliding in governance of developing states to specific adjustment behaviours of vulnerable populations or communities.

Politics & Geopolitics: Aid & Conflict in a Changing World Order - Discuss the wider geopolitical consequences that may come from traditional Western donors scaling back their aid commitments. In particular, speakers will debate how new actors, including China, Russia, and the Gulf states, are stepping forward with alternative aid models that are reshaping global influence and exchange.

You can find all the information on speakers and panel timings here: https://csdconference2026.org

Info: Investigate the current debates around global development aid and its structural transformations in the international system. The panel will explore the geopolitics of developmental assistance, the decline in traditional aid, the emergence of new and non-traditional donors, and the reasons behind recent institutional shifts within USAID and the merging of DFID and how these changes signal recalibration in purpose and practice of aid.

Info: Delve further into the conceptual framework of aid, specifically exploring how global aid provision is being redefined in form, purpose, and motivation. The discussion will examine political, economic, and ideological forces that challenge traditional ODA models and will consider the implications of declining aid.

Info: Consider the practical implications and smaller-scale impacts of shifting aid provision and priorities. Specifically, this panel will evaluate how these changes influence outcomes for vulnerable populations, ranging from broader socio-political backsliding in governance of developing states to specific adjustment behaviours of vulnerable populations or communities.

Info: Discuss the wider geopolitical consequences that may come from traditional Western donors scaling back their aid commitments. In particular, speakers will debate how new actors, including China, Russia, and the Gulf states, are stepping forward with alternative aid models that are reshaping global influence and exchange.

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Host or Publisher War Studies department, Conflict Security and Development MA, King's College London