Foreign aid

Foreign aid is a concept conceived after World War I but implemented after World War II. The move was driven by the fear that the soviets would move into the regions left vulnerable after the war like the Nazis had done after World War I. America made available over 12 billion dollars in Europe with the aim of helping countries build back what they had lost during the war (Apodaca 1). Although the move was used to keep the Soviet Union from gaining power, foreign aid has been used on various occasions to assist developing countries deal with issues related to natural disasters, famine and other man made catastrophes. Although most countries offer assistance to developing countries in form of foreign aid, the countries giving the assistance use foreign aid to not only help the countries but also as a tool to pursue their foreign policy agendas into the regions they help.

Since the donor countries get to decide which regions they give aid to, they use it as a tool to associate themselves with countries that are beneficial to the donors’ interests. Once identified, the donors can use either bilateral or multilateral methods to make funds available to the developing country identified (Jones 1). Once issued, the donors can bend the nations to their will by threatening to pull out the aid as they know how much the regions rely on the assistance. Aid therefore acts as an incentive and a deterrent that gives the donors a great level of control on how the regions they fund are run.

Regardless of whatever drives donors to giving aid, its availability has made it possible for developing countries to get access to funds and resources they would otherwise have been unable to manage on their own. Through donor aid, countries have manage to raise their economy, improve infrastructure and engage in various development projects that go a long way into improving the lives their citizens lead. Instead of using the aid as a tool for power, developed countries should use foreign aid as a way of giving back and help those developing to reach a position where they can help others in future.

 

 

 

Work cited

Apodaca, Clair, “Foreign aid as foreign policy tool” Oxford Research Encyclopedias, 2017,         retrieved from,   http://oxfordre.com/politics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-            9780190228637-e-332

Jones, Steve. “How foreign aid is used in foreign policy” 2019, retrieved from,             https://www.thoughtco.com/us-foreign-aid-as-policy-tool-3310330