There are people who think the billions we spend in foreign aid should be used in the United States, helping out with the educational system, the homeless and the elderly. However, we are helping families in need overseas and countries that are developing. Foreign Aid helps build alliances with other countries because we lend economic and military assistance. Afghanistan receives the most foreign aid and it started receiving a lot after 9/11. The United States actually tripled the amount it was sending to help with the rising terrorism problem in Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s economy was also very poor. Another example is how we are helping Israel with their war against Palestine. Foreign aid is being used to help in developing countries. Providing foreign aid to these countries helps builds our allegiance with them. This country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, so it’s in our nature to help others in need, especially those who are affected by a natural disaster. The foreign aid helps out with humanitarian reasons. The United States wants other countries to lean towards democracy rather than communism so they “grease the wheels” by providing foreign aid to other countries. It helps the United States because we buy and sell with all these countries we provide foreign aid too. It also helps the global economy because we are injecting money into it. I think that the benefits we receive from providing foreign aid is worth it and we should keep providing foreign aid to other countries.
After WWII, the United States made the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan is the largest aid program and it provided money to European countries and eventually Turkey. One of its goals was to promote international trade. During this time, communi...
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...think if people were more aware of the amount of foreign aid being provided they could see how big the impacts really are.
Works Cited
Bristol, Nellie. “Foreign Aid and National Security.” CQ Researcher by CQ Press. SAGE Publications, 17 June 2011. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
Cooper, Mary H. “Foreign Aid After Sept. 11.” CQ Researcher 26 Apr. 2002: 361-92. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
Cooper, Mary H. “Reassessing Foreign Aid.” CQ Researcher 27 Sept. 1996: 841-64. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
“United States Foreign Aid.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Mar. 2014. Web.
Samuelson, Paul A. “Theoretical Notes on Trade Problems.” JSTOR. The MIT Press, May 1964. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
Bekoe, E. Ofori. “The Right Kind Of Revolution: Modernization, Development And U.S. Foreign Policy, Michael E. Latham.” Africa Today 60.1 (2013): 127-130.Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
The United States continues to give around $550 billion in aid to other countries each year, making America the world's top donor by far (Richardson). While the United States government only supplies $252 billion to needy Americans each year. Former Assistant to the President for Communications, Patrick Buchanan said, "The idea that we should send endless streams of tax dollars all over the world, while our own country sinks slowly in an ocean of debt is, well, ludicrous" (Foreign Aid). The United States need to give money to support the domestic impoverished rather than supporting developing foreign countries because the poverty and homelessness in America is increasing faster than the aid necessary to reduce this trend. Part of the reason that the United States should aid the domestic impoverished is that some foreign countries cannot be trusted with the money given to them and in certain cases, the money intended to aid countries are harmful for that country’s well-being.
During 1940-1970, the USSR and the USA were the world’s leading superpowers. After WW2, it was the US money that helped rebuild nearly all of Western Europe, putting nearly half a dozen countries into debt. They opened trade and helped Europe’s ravaged economy to get back onto its feet. They did so by creating the ‘Marshall Plan’ on June the 5th, 1947. The plans aim was to reconstruct Western Europe and at the same time to stop Communism spreading to them – the Americans were avid believers in the Domino Theory, and believed that communism would take over all of Europe if they did not intervene. They also created other policies such as the Truman doctrine on March the 12th, 1947 (which is a set of principles that state that the US as the worlds ‘leading country’ will help out other democratic governments worldwide) and NATO, 4th of April 1949.
Before extending aid to other countries, we should focus on our more prevalent domestic problems. Patrick Buchanan said, "The idea that we should send endless streams of tax dollars all over the world, while our own country sinks slowly in an ocean of debt is, well, ludicrous. Almost every American knows it, feels it, believes it." The topic of United States foreign policy is greatly debated, and a decision on how to handle is very hard to come by. It seems as if we are finally leaning towards less aid to foreign countries, as we try to cut wasteful spending. The American government is finally opening its eyes to the realization that all of the aid we are giving out may not be worth it. Our priority should be to help our homeless, instead of other countries' poor.
Shiraev, Eric B., and Vladislav M. Zubok. International Relations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
to define Canada’s niche in international aid as well as predict the consequences of reductions in the number of its receivers.
Since the days of the Colombo Plan, Canada has always given foreign aid to developing nations. Spending billions of dollars annually (Canadian International Development Agency) through the Canadian International Development Agency, the country acts quickly in times of need. For instance, in early February, over 200 million dollars has been provided to the Haitian relief efforts through the donation matching campaign and by direct donation to aid agencies (Canadian International Development Agency). While a popular topic of armchair politicians, the “War in Afghanistan” has actually seen Canada pledge 111 million dollars over three years to provide food, necessities, and health services to the most vulnerable of Afghans (Government of Canada). Canada has also worked on key infrastructure projects, such as water and education systems. By allowing these long-suffering people to grow and thrive, we build their economy and in turn, they help build our economy.
Marshall pledged a proposal to the United States in efforts to contribute billions of dollars as postwar foreign aid to Europe. Marshall was fearful that when these countries were infested with food shortages and inflation that the countries would fall into the Soviet orbit for assistance (Foner 712). Correspondingly, Marshall insisted, “Our policy is directed not against any country of doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos” (Foner 712). The Marshall Plan was one of the most successful foreign aid policies that the United States enforced during this time and was a positive vision that regarding the efforts of containment. Unfortunately, the Marshall Plan took a militaristic turn while the Cold War increased.
The United States is one of the leading suppliers of Foreign Aid in the world, and even though the US gives billions, European countries give aid money to the same countries, this causes many areas of the Middle East, Africa, and Asia to be almost fully dependent on foreign aid. This means that without aid from other countries, they would not be able to support themselves at all. Foreign aid is meant to help countries that are struggling with civil unrest, disease, or natural disasters, it is not meant to help keep the country out of debt, but that is where more and more of the US and The EU’s foreign aid budget is going. The question is, does all this money actually go where it is intended? It should be going towards the government and to help the people, but in many cases, the countries government does not have the resources to properly track the flow of money. The countries in most cases have poor infrastructure and corrupt or oppressive leaders, not always at a national level, but in the towns and cities. So this means there is almost no way to oversee the flow of foreign aid through the country, all we can see is that their situations aren't getting any better and the countries are still impoverished. If this is the case, where are the millions of dollars going? Countries like Afghanistan and Iraq receive the most money from American foreign aid and European aid, yet they are still under oppressive governmental rule and there is still an extreme difference between the rich and poor. Garrett Harding’s theory of “Lifeboat Ethics” exemplifies how not giving aid to others will allow the strongest of society to thrive, while teaching the impoverished to help themselves. He believes that giving aid to poor countries will only make ...
Wendt, Alexander. “Constructing International Politics.” International Security. Cambridge: President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995. 71-81. Print.
First and foremost, a great deal of Europe’s success would not have happened without its initial aid from the United States. After helping destroy so much of the continent, the U.S. pumped billions and billions of dollars back into the European economy through The Marshall Plan. It was named after Secretary of State George C. Marshall, who said “The world of suffering people looks to us for leadership. Their thoughts, however, are not concentrated alone on this problem. They have more immediate and terribly pressing concerns where the mouthful of food will come from, where they will find shelter tonight, and where they will find warmth. Along with the great problem of maintaining the peace we must solve the problem of the pittance of food, of clothing and coal and homes. Neither of these problems can be solved alone. (DeLong)”
This source is useful as it sets up the conditions for the giving of US aid, it portrays an approach that the US took to justify their policies and allows us to gain perspective of the Marshall Plan from Marshall
" Journal of International Affairs 52.2 (1999): 691. Academic Search Elite -. Web. The Web. The Web.
Many people in the world wonder why the United States spends so much money on its military force, defending allies, and countering terrorism. The United States foreign aid, and its policies regarding the defense of other countries have always been in place, but few truly realize what would happen if the United States withdrew its help from other countries. The economy of the entire world would collapse. Russia and China would immediately assert themselves over Asia, causing further instability in the Middle East. Simply put, the first act of foreign aid by the United States to another country can be viewed as a trap. The United States wanted to save the ideal of democracy and keep the peace but, in doing so, couldn’t return to the way it was
Mingst, K. (2011). Essentials of international relations. (5th ed., p. 70-1). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company
Anderson, M. B. (1999). Do no harm: How aid can support peace—or war. London, England: Lynne Rienner Publishers