The Disasters That Prove That Foreign Aid Has Done More Damage Than Good Essay

In response to the recent failure of the international community to prevent the famine crisis in the Horn of Africa since July 2011, Suzanne Dvorak the chief executive of Save the Children wrote that, “We need to provide help now. But we cannot forget that these children are wasting away in a disaster that we could - and should - have prevented” she added, “The UN estimates that every $1 spent in prevention saves $7 in emergency spending.” (Dvorak, 2011).

Humanitarian problems (which would be solved by Developmental aid) far out way the conflict problem (which would could be solved my military aid.) Proof of this comes from state.gov where they state “the Sahel faced a serious humanitarian crisis in 2012 brought on by a severe drought and failed harvests that put 18.7 million people at risk for food insecurity, including one million children at risk of severe acute malnutrition.” Furthermore proof that military is not of much use, comes from Scott Johnson in Newsweek, where he speaks on the terrorists in the Sahel, He states that the terrorists which many people are worried about and demand military action to

Many skeptics challenge the reasoning for investing so much money into helping so many other countries when that money could instead help us improve internal affairs. After all, foreign aid spending has increased to $50 billion a year today, which could be put towards funding education to ensure that more kids go to college and possibly affecting the innovation of the future(Morris). Giving more than you receive is nice, but when it involves a country 's financial crisis, maybe it 's best if Santa cuts back some of this year 's presents. And although the argument may be valid, lending out a helping hand can create more allies than enemies to help us in return when we need it. In fact, foreign aid only accounts for 0.5 percent of the federal budget (Stearn). Compared to all the other matters at hand that the government is worrying about, the amount of spending put into aiding poorer countries is positive in both a moral aspect and a political aspect.

Ever had that one friend? The one who tries to help, but no matter how hard he tries, he just aggravates the situation. This friend, Steve, insists he is helping, and those around, too, would support that he is indeed helping. But Steve is actually worsening the circumstances. He is like countries who provide foreign aid to less developed countries. Foreign aid, defined as “the international transfer of capital, goods, or services from a country or international organization for the benefit of the recipient country or its population,” can be military, economic, or humanitarian (“Foreign”). It is often granted to less developed countries in order to evoke government reforms or to stimulate economic growth. However, foreign aid neither elicits government reform, nor does it consistently and reliably stimulate economic growth; therefore, the United States should discontinue providing foreign economic aid.

Throughout history and present day times, many countries such as Germany, France, and Canada have provided assistance and aid to underdeveloped countries to help alleviate poverty. The United States itself issues aid to developing countries which include Israel, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Ethiopia; this has been an American practice since 1947 after World War II. During the time period from 1947 to 1949 the United States, under the Marshall Plan, provided both financial and technical assistance to Europe and Asia after the war. As a result, Europe was rebuilt both politically and economically. Today the United States continues to provide aid to underdeveloped countries, helping them evolve and strengthen their economy. Many Americans believe that America is doing the right thing in issuing aid, while others hold the opinion that the United States should not issue aid, and that the issue of money to developing countries needs to stop.

Riddell, Roger C. 2007. Does Foreign Aid Really Work? 1st ed. OXFORD: Oxford University Press, USA.

Although many say humanitarian aid is civilizing war by withdrawing injured on the battlefield and removing them from hostilities. Personally, humanitarian aid does not only help very little during the war, but they prolong the war to get more money and benefits that they claim to need for the sake of the people’s lives. When the Nigerian civil war began in 1967, humanitarian aids were there to help, but they did more harm during the war then they ever did good. The organizations were the reason behind the year and a half extension of this civil war causing “tens of thousands dead, many more

Some people dont believe in foreign aid. Some people think that if they have more money and food, then they shouldn't have to "share". Peoplwe dont look at it as there is always someone who needs it and if you have "extra" than why not help another person. If anotheer place is in need they may contact a "richer" place.

U.S should worry about the people in our country before lending a hand in other countries. “US Aid to Africa” I believe lending a hand to the poor, starvation, or any type of medical help can be useful but, Ebola is a serious disease to why many Africans have passed

Sub-Saharan countries received their independence at various times during the 20th century with approximately $1 trillion dollars being transferred in the form of aid to the African continent. The African content is huge, where its size is equivalent to combining China, Mexico, Western and Eastern Europe, United States, Japan and Iberia (refer to Exhibit 1). The aid that has been provided to the sub-Saharan nation has always seemed to be a band aid approach to helping Africans by giving them food, water, medicine along with other basic essentials needed to survive. Where if you look at the money that has been spent on those developed nations towards getting them to be self-sustaining, a trillion dollar in foreign aid to Africa seems to

According to an assessment done by authenticating resources for the United States, the country has donated more than forty-two billion dollars as a token of assistance to numerous unprivileged states. They donated wholeheartedly without considering the factor of equality in the distribution criteria.

Misused Money, Over $500 billion (U.S.) has been sent to African nations in the form of direct aid. The consensus is that the money has had little long term effect. In addition, most African nations have borrowed substantial sums of money. However, a large percentage of the money was either been invested in weapons (money that was spent back in developed nations and

Most people feel obligated to assist others in need. In major crises like natural disasters, wars, medical outbreaks, and the struggling economies of the developing world, many citizens of developed countries believe it is morally right to provide assistance in situations like these, in response to being more fortunate. However according to Mark Goldberg, an editor of the United Nations and global affairs blog UN Dispatch and host of the Global Dispatches Podcast, discusses the truth behind foreign aid. He reveals that foreign support is an issue that is widely misunderstood by the general public, and is one of the most complicated subjects. Foreign policy has been under a huge debate and there is an obvious need for reformation, for it lacks clear leadership and strategic planning. In fact political leaders are very skeptic about foreign policy, and often find ways to push it back. What the citizens of first world should be inquiring, is foreign aid actually what we think it is, or are the internal reasons of the politics reshaping its truth?

Over the last 50 years, the world has struggled to maintain an economic balance and stability, while flourishing countries try to maintain a steady income to support its people and relations with other countries. Therefore, when a continent like Africa fails to maintain a stable government and economy, super powers such as America decide to intervene with its relations. Africa has great potential to become another pillar of the world’s economic structure with its mass amounts of uncultivated land. Unfortunately, corruption and irresponsible governments hinder that progress. Foreign aid while helpful should be limited to a yearly amount because it allows the government to repudiate responsibility and gives room for corruption; it creates a

Space constraints will not allow for a complete overview of the vast literature on northern aid policies towards Africa in general. As such, this literature is heavily focused on trends in aid quality and quantity, as it relates to the Cameroonian question (Lumsdaine 1993; Therien 2000; OECD annual Development Cooperation reports). There is also a strong emphasis on the evolution of aid policy in the wake of particular events e.g. the end of the Cold war (Cumming 2001; Lancaster 1999), 9/11(Macrae 2005; Howell 2010), the Arab Spring (Frot 2012; Independent Commission for Aid Impact Report 2013) or particular development strategies such as structural adjustment (Wilson 1993; Wuyts 1995) or good governance as it relates to the disbursement of aid (Crawford 1996; Epstein 2008). More specifically, Van Dijk (2009) underlines the increasing activities of the Chinese in Africa. Zahariadis et al. (2000) highlight the limited involvement of America on the African continent, in particular in East Africa. Those studies, when taken together, link directly to the hypothesis of the thesis which focuses on France’s post independence behaviour, and the way in which it contrasts with the aid behaviour or its global peers. French policy makers make decisions and policy that dictate the way in which aid is disbursed, should result in change in instruments used, and the aid tends seen on the ground. However, literature indicates that it often fails to follow the logical, or indicate, pattern.