This article coins the term ‘retroliberalism’ to describe the aid regime that has evolved out of the post-Global Financial Crisis (GFC) world order. This approach sees a partial return to the principles of classical liberalism with respect to the role of the state vis-à-vis the market, whilst also perpetuating a number of the principles of neoliberalism. At the same time, the rejuvenation of an active state harks back to modernization principles prevalent in the 1950s and 1960s. In describing this regulatory shift we suggest that a retroliberal ‘manual’ for aid practice can be discerned. Our analysis utilizes evidence from recent reforms in a range of Western aid donors that are members of the United Nation’s DAC, including the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Netherlands. It also offers some comment on the increasing role and influence of non-traditional donors such as China in shaping the new regime. Ultimately, we argue that this state-led post-industrial modernization that serves to facilitate and sustain the accumulation of private capital harks back to the post-War development period.