This article examines the structural crisis of the liberal paradigm that long shaped international development and humanitarian aid. Official Development Assistance (ODA) from OECD donors has sharply declined, while national priorities increasingly redirect resources toward domestic pressures, conflict-related costs, and geopolitical competition. These trends reflect a deeper transformation: the exhaustion of the Western liberal model, the rise of alternative financing systems led by China, and the weakening of multilateral institutions. Humanitarian aid—once imagined as a temporary bridge—has become a permanent feature of protracted crises, yet now faces an unprecedented gap between needs and available funding. The article argues that aid is not disappearing but evolving in a multipolar world where power is more diffuse and transactional. Its future relevance will depend on whether it can safeguard civilians, strengthen local capacities, and preserve principled spaces for cooperation, rather than reinforcing authoritarian regimes, dependency, or the erosion of multilateral norms.