July 1 marked the official end of USAID. Much attention, rightly so, has focused on the humanitarian cost—14 million projected deaths by 2030 due to cuts in global health and disaster relief, according to a recent Lancet article. A quieter casualty was USAID’s mission to promote “resilient, democratic societies”—a goal harder to measure than vaccine doses or trade growth, but just as vital.

July 1 marked the official end of USAID. Much attention, rightly so, has focused on the humanitarian cost—14 million projected deaths by 2030 due to cuts in global health and disaster relief, according to a recent Lancet article. A quieter casualty was USAID’s mission to promote “resilient, democratic societies”—a goal harder to measure than vaccine doses or trade growth, but just as vital.