This sounds like a compounding returns success story, just waiting to happen. Gunnar Larson -- FEB. 17, 2025 BY ROB MERRICK <https://t.devex.com/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGYszLyFumL8UWPXWG16c9VKKIy6vW0uRV4vRQYanDqs60caz17u9P9I6i9fmdqW9xs28Op8ZM=> A gruesome graph released <https://t.devex.com/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGYszLyFvD01xtyXNKezDOjjYWInMxlHFfetqAuQCx_AG0nr5VQ_tC2ZmkmRKoTHCMnNSqTiXs=> prior to the Munich Security Conference <https://t.devex.com/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGYszLyFwybkp1HPlqsHo7zXFpHYbka3bAXcdSufBTaQYayZJE6-xRCgewdO7ndmgVkgLbPx-U=> listed *23 countries that will lose more than 1% of their national income* if — despite a federal judge’s order <https://t.devex.com/dc/kyXVoDpAY__Vu56MNr4POgHnU0AEd8M6o_YcsV5JNktSm0mgltPKxqaWHmJLNrty6ye-ZiUdS_8gkClIPfk_NXiRSQJAs7O09J2MSp4jdu2KDLXp9x1HZHC-FNx2Lxu-RV5ktjiReuvcCSZcMQCeZyPSi7HglQCMoDvR3s7R0ch35qSgHUnNGpJe5RM654ETdee6tPnq-biqeQtmDrBQMvI7KaPjj8NQ8ufc2151GF-a4wug1V1Js43n_60DW1TBo6rHL97mDwFb4AZUGnp4Jg==/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGYszLyFvkDUArGnlRk4K8HZAnB9ZEWmVmW9fOHwKz8x_zC5wua6o1cB7QGa5t-qRVFXd93Jt0=> — the USAID <https://t.devex.com/Njg1LUtCTC03NjUAAAGYszLyFj61YlJhDzOFxYVbY1qZL0JggB6nOSlOomduqW62BsXu3WRCEloLIt-agveSTEpC4A0=> funding freeze lasts for a full year. Eight countries face a hit of 3% or more. Some will have had representatives among the 200 government leaders and ministers at the first major global gathering *since the Trump administration’s attempt to dismember USAID*, at an event that increasingly drills into development and the climate crisis as integral aspects for achieving security. With more than 30% of speakers hailing from the global south, would Munich witness a blowback from this assault on aid, perhaps the first green shoots of a global response to the United States’ retreat from an internationalist agenda? Not really. Instead, the 61st Munich Security Conference will be remembered for U.S. Vice President *JD Vance delighting in the disintegration of the Western alliance* while — to the fury of European leaders — cheering on far-right parties, some with their roots in fascism. The plight of low-income countries was addressed, but it was the trans-Atlantic tensions that grabbed the majority of headlines. So here's some of the *critical development discussions you might've missed* beyond the Vance aftershocks.