Foreign Assistance

A critical and constructive examination of Canada's assistance to developing countries.

A twentieth-century innovation, foreign aid has become a familiar and even expected element in international relations. But scholars and government officials continue to debate why countries provide it: some claim that it is primarily a tool of diplomacy, some argue that it is largely intended to support development in poor countries, and still others point out its myriad newer uses. Carol Lancaster effectively puts this dispute to rest here by providing the most comprehensive answer yet to the question of why governments give foreign aid. She argues that because of domestic politics in aid-giving countries, it has always been—and will continue to be—used to achieve a mixture of different goals. Drawing on her expertise in both comparative politics and international relations and on her experience as a former public official, Lancaster provides five in-depth case studies—the United States, Japan, France, Germany, and Denmark—that demonstrate how domestic politics and international pressures combine to shape how and why donor governments give aid. In doing so, she explores the impact on foreign aid of political institutions, interest groups, and the ways governments organize their giving. Her findings provide essential insight for scholars of international relations and comparative politics, as well as anyone involved with foreign aid or foreign policy.

The United States is the world's leading foreign aid donor. Yet there has been little inquiry into how such assistance affects the politics and societies of recipient nations. Drawing on four decades of data on U.S. economic and military aid, Aiding and Abetting explores whether foreign aid does more harm than good. Jessica Trisko Darden challenges long-standing ideas about aid and its consequences, and highlights key patterns in the relationship between assistance and violence. She persuasively demonstrates that many of the foreign aid policy challenges the U.S. faced in the Cold War era, such as the propping up of dictators friendly to U.S. interests, remain salient today. Historical case studies of Indonesia, El Salvador, and South Korea illustrate how aid can uphold human freedoms or propagate human rights abuses. Aiding and Abetting encourages both advocates and critics of foreign assistance to reconsider its political and social consequences by focusing international aid efforts on the expansion of human freedom.

A Samaritan State Revisited brings together a refreshing group of emerging and leading scholars to reflect on the history of Canada's overseas development aid. Addressing the broad ideological and institutional origins of Canada's official development assistance in the 1950s and specific themes in its evolution and professionalization after 1960, this collection is the first to explore Canada's history with foreign aid with this level of interrogative detail. Extending from the 1950s to the present and covering Canadian aid to all regions of the Global South, from South and Southeast Asia to Latin America and Africa, these essays embrace a variety of approaches and methodologies ranging from traditional, archival-based research to textual and image analysis, oral history, and administrative studies. A Samaritan State Revisited weaves together a unique synthesis of governmental and non-governmental perspectives, providing a clear and readily accessible explanation of the forces that have shaped Canadian foreign aid policy.

Explores the different choices made by donor governments when delivering foreign aid projects around the world.

Assessing the Impact of Foreign Aid: Value for Money and Aid for Trade provides updated information on how to improve foreign aid programs, exploring the concept and practice of impact assessment within the sometimes-unproblematic approaches advocated in current literature of value for money and aid for trade. Contributors from multi-lateral agencies and NGOs discuss the changing patterns of Official Development Assistance and their effects on impact assessment, providing theoretical, political, structural, methodological, and practical frameworks, discussions, and a theory-practice nexus. With twin foci of economics and policy this book raises the potential for making sophisticated and coherent decisions on aid allocation to developing countries. Addresses the impact of aid for trade and value for money, rather than its implementation Discusses the changing patterns of Official Development Assistance and their effects on impact assessment, providing theoretical, political, structural, methodological, and practical frameworks, discussions, and a theory-practice nexus Assesses the effects and implications of the value for money and aid for trade agendas Highlights economic issues

Members of Congress and Administrations have periodically considered reorganizing the federal government's trade and development functions to advance various policy objectives. This book examines the Trump administration's 2019 budget request to consolidate OPIC and other agency development finance functions, specifically the DCA of the USAID, into new US development foreign agencies. The second report shows in tabular form how much the Administration requested and how much Congress appropriated for US payments to the multilateral development banks (MDBs) since 2000. The third report included in this book looks at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) that provides economic assistance through a competitive selection process to developing nations that demonstrate positive performance in 1. Ruling justly, 2. Investing in people and 3. Fostering economic freedom. Next, an overview of US foreign assistance to Israel is provided. It includes a review of past aid programs, data on annual assistance and analysis of current issues. Finally, this book examines the legislative authorization and appropriation of funds for foreign aid and security cooperation which are potential vehicles for congressional responses to developments in Cameroon, along with oversight activities. Additionally, to date, the US has directed nearly $7.7 billion toward Syria-related humanitarian assistance, and Congress has appropriated billions more to support security and stabilization initiatives in Syria and in neighboring countries. The chapters herein provide an overview on the Syria conflict and the US response in what is now its seventh year of conflict.