The United States' Foreign Aid to Developing Countries: A Research Report

Foreign aid is something that is provided by donating governments to countries in need, mostly third-world countries. Foreign aid is allocated for two extremely broad categories, economic development and military aid. Under these categories there are specific uses for foreign aid like, health, humanitarian assistance, democratic elections and even protection for forests. There is debate about foreign aid being a waste because of corrupt governments, which gives the United States speculation whether it should continue to provide foreign aid and how much. This was a popular topic in the 2012 election between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. It would be most beneficial to the United States to maintain foreign aid levels while having conditions

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.

Does American Aid help poverty in foreign countries? No, they don’t spend our wages on things they need to grow their living conditions and economy. Our compensation will not encourage them to become involved in world politics, instead it is just going to teach them to live off of our handouts. What good is a charity if it is not going to help anything? The purpose of America financially benefiting other countries is for them to take the money and help fix their economical issues and make a better livelihood status for themselves. Since it hardly seems like they are going to use our cash to promote their own society, they should be indebted to us and pay our unmitigated promotion. According to Stephen Moore, “There is zero evidence that any

As a civilized nation who is a leader in development and progress, the United States Federal Government has a responsibility to provide foreign aid.

The purpose of the response that supports foreign aid is to provide logical and even emotional reasoning as to why we should continue to give help to those nations that may not be as well-off as we are. In that, it is very effective, making out the role of the United States in the international playing field as a distinct

The United States Of America is one of the strongest country on the planet. A country that is well known for its equality and freedom. A country where people would give up everything in their life to immigrate in, hoping for a new and a better life. The land of opportunity as foreigners call it. "

The foreign country receiving aid needs to receive the correct type of help for them to get out of poverty. If they received affordable education and studies, they will be able to obtain skills needed to improve and stabilize their country. When they receive certain skills, they will be more prominent to get jobs to help provide for them. With better education, they will be able to form a strong country and become wealthy. The United States has many resources already, so much that the government pays farmers not to grow crops.

Many American citizens disregard or are unaware of what is happening in other less developed countries. Some lack electricity, efficient amount of food for their families, and even running, clean water. Poverty is one of the major cause of death, mostly for young children due to sickness and their families can’t afford the help they need. There are ways America is helping the undeveloped countries to improve as many people's lives as possible. Although there is more suffering than there are helping, some are working everyday to help solve the problems many are suffering so badly from.

The United States of America gives billions of dollars in financial aid each year to help support a myriad of different countries to include Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and multiple African nations. It is morally and ethically correct to help countries in times of true emergency, but how much help is considered too much? Are we as a nation hindering our own growth and future preservation by contributing to this worldwide aid? The answer is very clear when put into perspective.

Defense is one of the main priorities in US foreign assistance. The US also has certain goals regarding foreign aid. They always try “rehabilitating the economies of war-devastated countries” in order to bring them back to where they once were and the US also tries “strengthening the military defenses of allies and friends” in order to make sure that poor countries are able to sustain life and have a good government without remaining in poverty for such a long time (Foreign

American foreign aid, when utilized appropriately and with a clear organization and planning, ultimately does help U.S. national interests. However, when the United States doles out foreign aid carelessly and with little prior planning and foresight of possible negative consequences, American foreign aid can also hinder U.S. national interests. Such an example of inadequate planning can be seen in the humanitarian relief given to Haiti, where much of the aid was utilized inefficiently and mostly spent on relieving Haiti’s debts and just barely keeping people alive. The United States’s mistake in this regard was that it had only planned for a short term humanitarian aid package to Haiti, while not considering how to map out a developmental aid

Whether or not foreign aid is being used as a tool or as a weapon remains a question. Each year we use foreign aid to threaten hungry countries all over the world. People fear the United States will withdraw from any type of aid they are associated with causing even more trouble than good. About half of U.S. foreign aid goes to the six countries that are Washington’s allies; these are against terror attacks and drug transportation. Foreign aid is viewed as good because it makes the world a safer place, it leaves countries cleaner and healthier, however others view it as harmful because of the cost, it fuels rampant corruption in countries that receive it, and it creates poverty.

It is widely held that the United States should give money to aid third world countries living in poverty because helping the less fortunate is a strong value in American culture. The U.S. has an interest in helping third world countries escape poverty and elevating them so they may contribute to the growing world-state. Therefore, America believes that sending a big fat check to the governments of these impoverished nations is the best way to help. However, all this gifted money does is create increased third world poverty by feeding corrupt governments and diminishing economic growth. This argument has been in the back of a lot of American’s mind for a while now, and people normally want one of three things. They want to decrease foreign aid, or they want to keep foreign aid the exact same, or they want to spend the same amount of money but distribute it different ways. The last viewpoint is what I want to focus on. Foreign aid needs to be changed into a more productive way for these developing countries to get out of poverty without corrupting their government or hurting their economic growth.