Foreign Aid
Foreign Aid as a tool for Foreign Policy
Foreign aid is defined as voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another country, at times as leverage to cohorts the receiving country do what the donor country wants. But it may be given as a signal of diplomatic approval, or to strengthen a military ally, to reward a government for behavior desired by the country giving the aid, to extend the donor 's cultural influence, or to gain political strength here at home as abroad. According to the USAID website, foreign aid is given through eight different types of monetary assistance. These eight different forms of assistance are agriculture, democracy and governance, economic growth and trade, environment, education and training, global health, global partnerships, and humanitarian assistance. From 1980 to 2008, U.S. total foreign assistance has increased from 9.69 billion to just over 49 billion in 2008. From the 49 billion spent in 2008 alone, close to 15.5 billion was spent on military aid while the rest was divided between economic assistance in fields such as agriculture, international development, and other economic growth and trade programs. The largest recipients of the two foreign aid subdivisions, military and economic aid, went respectively to the regions of the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. The country in the Middle East with the highest recipient of aid was Afghanistan, with close to 9 of the 49 billion dollars of aid in the 2008 year alone (USAID, 2013.) As we can see a lot of our tax payer’s money goes abroad to countries many American cannot find on a world map, but we need to help these countries for the safety of our people, at least in the eyes of every politicians in office. American liberals, as described by Bob Burnett of the Huffington Post, fall between two primary types of camps that determine their views of U.S. Foreign Aid. Idealists and realist camps, focus on the need for international humanitarian aid
Foreign aid is defined as voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another country, at times as leverage to cohorts the receiving country do what the donor country wants. But it may be given as a signal of diplomatic approval, or to strengthen a military ally, to reward a government for behavior desired by the country giving the aid, to extend the donor 's cultural influence, or to gain political strength here at home as abroad. According to the USAID website, foreign aid is given through eight different types of monetary assistance. These eight different forms of assistance are agriculture, democracy and governance, economic growth and trade, environment, education and training, global health, global partnerships, and humanitarian assistance. From 1980 to 2008, U.S. total foreign assistance has increased from 9.69 billion to just over 49 billion in 2008. From the 49 billion spent in 2008 alone, close to 15.5 billion was spent on military aid while the rest was divided between economic assistance in fields such as agriculture, international development, and other economic growth and trade programs. The largest recipients of the two foreign aid subdivisions, military and economic aid, went respectively to the regions of the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. The country in the Middle East with the highest recipient of aid was Afghanistan, with close to 9 of the 49 billion dollars of aid in the 2008 year alone (USAID, 2013.) As we can see a lot of our tax payer’s money goes abroad to countries many American cannot find on a world map, but we need to help these countries for the safety of our people, at least in the eyes of every politicians in office. American liberals, as described by Bob Burnett of the Huffington Post, fall between two primary types of camps that determine their views of U.S. Foreign Aid. Idealists and realist camps, focus on the need for international humanitarian aid
References: Burnett, B. August 15, 2006. A New Liberal Foreign Policy. The Huffington Post. Connor, Gary. 2012. "US Foreign Aid Money Should Be Spent on America." Is Foreign Aid Necessary? Greenhaven Press Eddlem, T.R. 2011. “American Foreign Aid Supports Corrupt Regimes.” Is Foreign Aid Necessary? Opposing Viewpoints In Context. House of Representatives. www.democrats.foreignaffairs.house.gov. Last accessed December 10, 2012 Moore. E. & Christy. P. February 27, 2013. Don’t Let Sequestration Cut Foreign Aid. U.S. News and World Report’s World. Mungcal, I. December 13, 2012. In US foreign aid reform proposal, a focus on partnerships. In The News. Roberts. J. M. March 7, 2013. www.heritage.org. "Not All Foreign Aid Is Equal." Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Rogin, J. April 6, 2011. Ryan Budget Would Slash International Affairs Funding, Increase Defense Funding United States Agency for International Development. www.usaid.gov. Last accessed January 11, 2013 United Nations AIDS. 2012. www.unaids.org. Last accessed November 2013. Resources. Publications. 2012.