There are many competing theories underscoring why countries elect to contribute foreign aid to other countries. This is a difficult international phenomena to isolate, because there are many potential factors that could influence a country’s decision. Some countries are motivated to provide foreign aid to certain countries based on political ideologies, geopolitical strategic locations, or other foreign policy objectives. This paper begins by identifying the major debates in the literature regarding what motivates the provision of foreign aid by a country.
There seems to be clear divisions between political and strategic motivations to provide foreign aid as opposed to economic needs and policy performance or finally, political ideology. Major Debates in the Foreign Aid Literature There are many concurrent related debates in the foreign aid literature that do not necessarily address the direct question of what motivates countries to contribute foreign aid. Ngaire Woods identifies some of these related debates as including; financial capacity of donors, and best provision methods.
While these debates are tied to the question of why countries provide foreign aid, this paper focuses on the theorists and articles that provide the most useful responses to this specific research question. Political and Strategic Motivations for Foreign Aid Woods goes on to address why countries provide foreign aid by closely linking the foreign aid decisions of donor countries to their shifting security priorities. Woods argues that countries provide foreign aid on the basis of strengthening their own security. Woods states, “Most of the increase in US
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Aid has been destined for projects designed to serve the security imperatives prevailing in the wake of September 11. ”2 Alberto Alesina and David Dollar argue that “direction of foreign aid is dictated by political and strategic considerations, much more than by the economic needs and policy performance of the recipients. ”3 They have also concluded that while foreign aid flows are affected by strategic concerns, foreign direct investments and other corporate economic decisions are determined more by stability in the receiving country and the positive returns on their investments.
Another finding indicates that countries might be using foreign aid to encourage democratization. They find that “The typical democratizing country gets a 50% increase in aid. ”4 Many Realists would side with this rationale behind foreign aid provision because it will strengthen US security interests abroad. Palmer, Wohlander, and Morgan make an intriguing finding. They created a “two-good” model of foreign policy that explains foreign aid provision as an option among foreign policy choices, and as a marked alternative to “the initiation of interstate conflict and participation in certain types of alliances.
Morgenthau makes a contribution that the “United States has interests abroad which cannot be secured by military means and for the support of which the traditional methods of diplomacy are only in part appropriate. ”6 Morgenthau’s comment justifies the use of multiple means to achieve the same strategic ends and implies there may not be a clear division across the identified camps in this debate and field after all. Economic and International Development Motivations for Foreign Aid Morgenthau states that some believe “foreign aid is the fulfillment of an obligation of the few rich nations toward the many poor ones.
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Steven Radelet uses the compelling counterexample of President George W. Bush and his September 2002 National Security Strategy, which gave “rare prominence to development and aid alongside defense and diplomacy. ”8 Radelet goes on to describe the $10 billion in new funding to alleviate HIV/AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean. Rather than purely strategic or political considerations, Radelet describes this foreign policy shift as an indication of concern for development and direct international aid.
Radelet also rationalizes that there could be underlying motivations for this foreign policy shift that still maintain US strategic interests abroad. He argues that this HIV/AIDS funding still enhances US security by eliminating new sources of terrorists, US soft power, ideological encouragement, and satisfying a moral obligation. This final perspective is representative of many of Liberalism’s theorists, because soft power, diplomacy, and cooperation between nations are seen as the ultimate guarantee of safety.
Foreign Aid as a Tool for Spreading political ideology and Other Concerns Many theorists believe that spreading political ideology through foreign aid provision may not be the most effective strategy. Farah Abuzeid argues that “discrimination on the basis of standards of governance creates new complications. ”9 This has very important implications for new democracies and underdeveloped countries when competing for limited foreign aid, especially if democratizing countries are favored.
Another unintended potential consequence of engaging in foreign aid provision is highlighted by Stephane Pallage and Michel A. Robe who suggest that volatility in foreign aid provision is destabilizing for many countries in Africa. 10 Deborah Brautigam and Stephen Knack similarly argue that “…in many of the countries with poor governance records, aid continues to contribute a very high percentage of government budgets. ”11 Michael Edwards examines foreign aid provision from the perspective of the role in international relations of development non-governmental organizations.
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Diplomacy remains paramount as Radelet indicates “historically most aid has been given as bilateral assistance directly from one country to another. ”13 Conclusion This critical survey of the relevant foreign aid literature indicates that there is very little discussion of the multiple motivations that coincide behind each country’s foreign aid decisions. As Morgenthau indicated, it is likely that there are multiple reasons or means employed to achieve various ends. For some of these theorists, the main objective in providing foreign aid revolves around achieving political stability for the donor country.
For others, the primary objective relates to lessening suffering around the world, and yet for others, foreign aid should be used to promote particular political ideologies like democracy. In this research paper, the objective is to instead, explore the possibility of competing objectives and perhaps a ranked order of objectives that could be achieved by priority. It will be difficult to assess intention on the part of a country’s foreign policy, but through data from sources like WikiLeaks and other pro-transparency databases, it is hoped that this question can be investigated.
