Should the Developed North Increase Aid to the Less Developed South?
analytical Essay
1500 words
Should the Developed North Increase Aid to the Less Developed South?
The question at hand is not whether aid from the developed north should be given at all, but whether or not it should be increased to help ease the suffering of the developing countries in the south. Every country, whether rich or poor, should have compassion for the suffering. However, it is not the duty of the developed north to completely take care of every developing country. In the present, there are serious problems that need to be addressed dealing with how aid is given out: misuse of funds by governments, the corruption it creates, economies it destroys, lack of votes it buys at the United Nations, and finally the question of who has priority. Therefore, until these issues are dealt with in the near future, aid should be kept to a minimum.
· Response to Readings in Taking Sides
James P. Grant, in his article favoring the increase of foreign aid to the developing south, notes that poverty in this world is a large problem that has continued to rise for years. It wasn?t until the 1960?s that the mobilization of medical help, better sanitation, clean water, money spent on education, and other measures began to save lives and make the quality of living better for millions. However, he also states that even though aid is being provided, it is still not enough, and leaders like the United States and the European community should take the initiative to donate and assist more each year just like the Japanese have done. The only problem with this statement is that both the European community and the United States are pressed for money. The European countries, especially leaders like Great Britain and Germany, have devoted much of their aid b...
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..., but it makes sense if you look at the reasons why. Wealthier countries are more productive, stable, and offer a more educated workforce from which foreign investors have more to gain from. All of these examples together support the notion that aid is not always as useful as it could be and that lender?s should find more appropriate means for distributing resources before increasing foreign assistance budgets.
In conclusion, if only there was a way to prevent the misuse of funds by finding ways to control the use of money, increase support at the United Nations for US policies, and distribute aid according to need, then the increase of foreign aid would be acceptable. However, until that point, any increase in foreign aid is nothing more than a waste of money into the hands of the corrupt and a method to destroy the countries in which money is flowing into.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that it is not the duty of the developed north to completely take care of every developing country.
- Analyzes how james p. grant's article favors the increase of foreign aid to the developing south, stating that poverty in this world is a large problem that has continued to rise.
- Opines that the purpose of a nation is to look after its citizens to ensure that they are free from harm, stay healthy, receive public utilities, and become educated.
- Explains that the editors of the economist believe the north should not increase aid to the developing south on account of past misuse, unfair distribution of aid among countries, and lack of results.
- Analyzes how the agency for international development (aid) believes that foreign aid influences recipients' actions and helps gain support for the donor's interests worldwide.
- Analyzes the flaws in the assistance effort that need to be addressed before any future increase in spending occurs.
- Opines that the key to reforming agencies like aid is finding a way to control the direction of monetary aid once lent to the government.
- Opines that the clinton administration believed that assistance prevented social collapse. however, it was not worth the millions of dollars to interfere in the conflict in rwanda and somalia.
- Argues that aid is not distributed based on need, but rather on wealth, which implies that foreign investors care more about their personal gain than for the betterment of the lives of those they govern.
- Concludes that if there was a way to prevent the misuse of funds by finding ways to control the use of money, increase support at the united nations for us policies, and distribute aid according to need, foreign aid would be acceptable.
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- U.S. Foreign Aid: Its History and Implicationsanalytical essayEvery year, the United States of America spends 37.68 billion dollars on foreign aid, more than any other country gives (Escobar 10). Why does the U.S. spend so much on foreign aid, and is it a good thing? This paper looks at the U.S.’s policies on spending money on development abroad, and explores whether it is successfully helps underdeveloped countries or not. Even though the USA and other Western countries give a lot of money to underdeveloped countries, they have ulterior motives; thus foreign aid is not a totally good thing and it can even be a bad thing. The U.S. promotes development abroad in two ways: with official donations of money through USAID (United States Agency for International Development), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the United Nations; and through non-governmental organizations (NGOs) (6). The U.S. gives about 1% of its budget to foreign aid (6). This figure also includes military aid. Out of all the countries receiving aid, Egypt and Israel receive the most (this is because the U.S. has strategic and military interests in those areas) (Pawson 112). The USAID website states: “U.S. foreign assistance has always had the twofold purpose of furthering America’s foreign policy interests in expanding democracy and free markets while improving the lives of the citizens of the developing world” (112). Additionally, 80% of the money USAID gives goes to American NGOs and companies (112). The goal of the development aid industry is to make America seem like a good country that is doing good things. However, it is also part of America’s imperial foreign policy.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the u.s. spends 37.68 billion dollars on foreign aid each year, more than any other country.
- Explains that the u.s. first started giving international aid after world war ii to increase its influence around the world.
- Explains that the west gave aid in the 1980s but required other conditions, like structural adjustment programs. these programs had bad effects in latin america.
- Explains that as more conditions were attached to aid, the role of donor institutions and ngos increased. the challenges of dependency were exacerbated by structural adjustment as increasing numbers of technical advisors and consultants were brought in to provide oversight to the restructured programs.
- Explains that the marshall plan was successful in europe because those countries already had functioning governments, schools, companies, and hospitals to use the money in.
- Explains that after the cold war, the u.s. stopped giving foreign aid because it was not fighting against communism anymore. the aid industry started up again when celebrity philanthropists like bono and bill gates became popular.
- Explains that jeffery sachs believes that the u.s. and the western world need to give a lot more than they have been.
- Analyzes how sachs disagrees with the zambian economist dambisa moyo's book, dead aid, which argues against development aid in africa.
- Explains that in an aid-dependent environment, the talented become unprincipled and are drawn from productive work towards nefarious activities that undermine the country's growth prospects.
- Analyzes how william easterly criticizes sachs' views, arguing that foreign aid can only work if small aid programs are perfected and made bigger.
- Argues that development and foreign aid should be done at all. the u.s. donates large amounts of its own grain to underdeveloped countries.
- Concludes that the u.s. gives money to underdeveloped countries, but this is not as beneficial as it might seem. development programs, such as food aid, often do more harm than good in the countries they are supposed to be helping.
- Cites easterly, william, and escobar, arturo. encountering development: the making and unmaking of the third world.
- Explains mclaughlin, jane kitchel, and moyo, dambisa. dead aid: why aid isn't working and how there's a better wayfor africa.
1703 wordsRead More - America's Foreign Aid Contributionsanalytical essayThe integration of international communications and trades, the flourishing peril of global terrorism, the surge of HIV/AIDS, the growing poverty in developing countries, transnational crimes and nuclear weapons – all are hallmarks of a germinated 21st century outlook for alteration and adjustment. Given many menaces to national security in the post-Cold War and especially post-9/11 terrorism, Americans now understand that the security of their homeland greatly depends on civilization, freedom, and development beyond other nations. Since Congress passed the Marshall Plan in 1948 and the Foreign Assistance Act in 1961, the U.S. has been well-known worldwide for its commodious overseas contribution. Nevertheless, this renown is inevitably questioned. What did the U.S. really accomplished? Or the effort was just a gilded, counterfeit mask?
In this essay, the author
- Argues that the integration of international communications and trades, the flourishing peril of global terrorism, and the surge of hiv/aids are hallmarks of a germinated 21st century outlook for alteration and adjustment.
- Explains that the united states has been ranked first in gross domestic product 59 times in a row since 1950. being the wealthiest and strongest part of the international monetary fund, world bank, and even helping to formulate the un over 60 years ago, our actions can be felt around the world.
- Explains that the u.s. has always granted the third world countries with the largest amount compared to any other first-world countries.
- Analyzes how the u.s. has cut back on its promised obligations and responsibilities to help the cause of development aid.
- Analyzes the impact the u.s. has made on developing countries that no other industrialized nation has ever achieved.
- Cites the chart of the organization for economic cooperation and development (oecd).
- Cites anders, jaroslaw, and atwood, brian. the future of foreign aid. university of pennsylvania news.
- Opines that america spends too much on foreign aid, citing dan heath, carol lancaster, and barbara slavin.
896 wordsRead More - Foreign Aid Essayanalytical essayThe first reasons to think that foreign aid should be spend is that “Aid saves lives” which is clearly illustrated by the researches conducted. Compare 1990 to 2010, as a result of aid in vaccines and health, there was a decrease in number of children who died from illness of pneumonia and diarrhoea (BBC). For example, in Botswana, the foreign aid fund had provided a test of HIV for pregnant mothers and therefore decrease the amount of newborn babies which catches HIV. Furthermore, in Bangladesh, there is a 62% drop in death rate for the under five children, the aid fund allows the government to be able to afford “vaccines and trained the midwives”.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that foreign aid is financial help given by a country to another for purposes of economic stabilization, poverty, and living standard. there are three premises supporting the main conclusion.
- Argues that foreign aid should be spent because it "saves lives" and researches show that vaccines and health aid reduces the number of children who die from pneumonia and diarrhoea.
- Argues that foreign aid should be spent because it improves the quantity and quality of education in ways of learning environment and data.
- Argues that foreign aid is needed for the economic growth of third world countries.
- Argues that foreign aid is inefficient, prodigal, and wasteful because of the mismanagement of funds and embezzlement, which imposes pressure on government decision makers.
- Concludes that we should spend money on foreign aid because it saves lives, although aid are sometimes inefficient to improve standard level of education and eliminate poverty rates, but aids are necessary for the government to work on those issues.
631 wordsRead More - Financial Aid Essayanalytical essayThese differing opinions have led to the emergence of two contending theories. The first, championed by Sachs (2005), is that foreign aid is key to leading countries out of poverty traps by kick-starting a virtuous cycle; investing in crucial areas and making them more productive, generating further investments with the increased income and so on. Others (Easterly 2006 and Moyo 2009) argue that aid does far more bad than good; by forcing solutions on people, hence preventing them from finding and using their own, and by corrupting and undermining local institutions.
In this essay, the author
- Argues that short-run, targeted subsidies for health products have the potential to increase long-term adoption, but if they are unused or misused, these effects will be dampened.
- Explains that the second criterion of the successful use of aid is the targeting of local communities, engaging their understanding, support, and participation.
- Explains larrison's conclusion that the bottom-up model of social development theory is more successful at accomplishing the goals of community development.
- Argues that financial aid is best directed at a local level, rather than national level. in west bengal, one-third of the village councils are randomly selected every five years.
- Argues that financial aid is of great policy interest at local, national and global levels, but there is a lack of theoretical consensus that progress has been made.
1400 wordsRead More - The Cons of U.S. Foreign Aidopinionated essayThe Cons of U.S. Foreign Aid As time progresses humankind seeks to better itself. We strive to make life easier, faster, and more efficient. Currently we have telescopes that can see objects light years away, satellites that can track you around the planet, cars that adjust the seat and steering wheel to separate drivers, and computers that fit in your hand and perform a million calculations a second. But not everyone in this world has this technology. In parts of the world there are people who are still advancing, they are hundreds of years behind the technological leaders of this world.
In this essay, the author
- Argues that u.s. foreign aid is a bad thing because it hurts their economies, creates over-population, and we spend money that could be used closer to home.
- Opines that united states aid hurts third world countries because it blankets them in security and their economic problems remain hidden.
- Explains that foreign aid hurts the aided country because of over-population. the land can only support so many people and their technology does not allow for surplus.
- Argues that the government should stop sending supplies and money to third world countries if they want to get out of their deficit, create jobs, and help the poor.
- Opines that americans feel compassion for poverty-stricken people and want to raise the living status of "less-fortunate" people to a level similar to their own.
- Explains that sending money to foreign countries for aid also helps setup small makeshift hospitals to help people stricken by diseases that normally wouldn't be fatal in the united states.
- Opines that the united states should aid other countries because it has surplus of food in the country.
- Opines that americans are compassionate but don't feel sorry enough to give food to starving people in their own country. overpopulation is the biggest problem in third world countries.
- Explains that eliminating diseases within third world countries has its downsides. without those factors in the ecosystem population has skyrocketed.
- Opines that the surplus of food in this country would be more helpful in eliminating hunger in our country.
- Opines that united states aid is not a good thing because it causes overpopulation, hurts foreign economies, and spends money that could be used closer to home.
1260 wordsRead More - What Foreign Aid Isexplanatory essayWhat Foreign Aid Is There are two words that many politicians like to shy away from, and those two words are, "foreign aid. " Taking a firm stand on either side of this topic is usually side stepped by decision makers. Their opinions are usually based on a case by case analysis. This extremely controversial topic involves whether or not to support the policy of foreign aid to needy or sometimes not so needy countries. What benefits does foreign aid have for the countries that receive it, and does it have any benefits for the countries who give?
In this essay, the author
- Describes the two words, "foreign aid" and taking a firm stand on either side of this topic.
- Describes the reasons for supporting foreign aid to needy or not-so-needy people.
- Asks if it has any benefits for the countries who give?
- Explains that those who argue in favor of foreign aid say that it is an investment in the country.
- Explains that foreign aid to countries can help in many ways.
- Opines that foreign aid may be as important as the u.s. who are giving it.
- Explains that the u.s. supplied mexico with a loan in order to save the falling value.
- Explains that deflation of the mexican peso means a loss of jobs.
- Opines that some people would still be against this type of aid, and their argument would be the same.
- Explains that aid not only helps the country in need, but it also pumps money into the us.
- Explains that the u.s. has over 800 million budgeted for aid to russia and other former soviet states.
- Explains that the u.s. spends more money on military foreign aid.
- Explains that the u.s. usually has more than one type of foreign aid.
- Describes countries such as lybia, lebanon, iraq, and iran.
- Explains that the leader of iraq, decided to use scud missiles against israel who had no part.
- Explains how the gulf war turned out to be crucial.
- Explains how the us tried to help a country full of starving people who were dying because of hunger.
- Explains that the decision to bring in us forces was made for fear of being killed.
- Opines that the us was not wanted in somalia, and it seemed as if they were.
- Opines that foreign aid is most likely a right or wrong by each individual.
- Opines that foreign aid is blown out of proportion by the media.
- Opines that if the u.s. wants to keep russia on the right track, it must give them aid to feed their people.
- States that the u.s. uses foreign aid as a tool to end the cold war.
- Explains that the us has a foothold in the middle east by preserving israel as an ally.
- Analyzes how the sheer size and strength of its economy and military might has to watch over the rest of the world in order to keep balance and peace.
1739 wordsRead More - Foreign Aid Essayanalytical essayAmerican politics, specifically, American foreign policy is a very controversial topic of study and subsequent discussion. Foreign aid, defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “the transfer of capital goods from one country to another”, is crucial to U.S. foreign policy. But how can foreign aid, which represents only about 0.2 percent of Gross National Product and less than 1 percent of the federal budget , be important to something as crucial as foreign policy? A few questions must be asked in order to shed some light on this. First, how does the donating nation (for the purpose of this paper, the U.S. and donor/donating country/nation will be used interchangeably) determine how much aid to give? Second, who actually gets the aid? And third, how much aid do the recipient nations receive? Looking back on history and within modern times, the neediest of nations are the not the ones, which receive foreign aid (McKinlay and Little, 1977). In fact, foreign aid can be described as a trade for specific political concessions, which benefit the donor country. How the determination of which country receives foreign aid is usually dependent on the strategic importance to the donor country (as a modern example let us use Egypt, which is in the top five of the countries, which receive the most U.S. foreign aid. Egypt is in a strategic location, in close proximity to Israel). How much aid is actually given will depend on a number of factors, including the current state of affairs in the donor country and any prevailing fears of the time (i.e. the spread of communism during the Cold War, terrorism, etc.). In order to determine how much aid is given, I will draw from the selectorate theory, particularly, from the winning coalition, which is...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that foreign aid, defined by merriam-webster dictionary, is crucial to u.s. foreign policy.
- Explains that the nation itself does not make the decision but the leader does. the u.s. would attempt to purchase an anti-communist stance from s2.
- Explains the marshall plan, which was a massive foreign aid effort launched by the united states after wwii.
- Analyzes how the u.s. subverted a communist-leaning government in 1953 to unseat mohammed mossadeq, and in 1954, with the eisenhower administration in power, the premier was replaced with general fazollah zahedi.
- Analyzes how the dramatic increase in foreign aid to guatemala in the years after the installation of the new government shows once again that american foreign assistance comes in exchange for policy concessions.
- Explains that the terrorist attacks of september 11th, 2001, on new york city set the background for a u.s. led invasion into afghanistan and iraq.
- Explains that the united states state department's official goals are to "build and sustain a more democratic, secure, and prosperous world for the benefit of the american people and the international community."
- Concludes that u.s. foreign policy today may seem too centered around national security. foreign aid is one of the most important elements of its policy as it was as far back as the second world war.
- Argues that the u.s. isn't buying friends, but helping them open the roads of enterprise and opportunity for their own people.
2108 wordsRead More - America Rhetorical Analysisopinionated essayThe U.S. sometimes helps other countries that are underdeveloped, economically speaking. And while those countries who receive the help benefit from it, there issue still stands whether or not helping these countries is the right thing to do. Many U.S. citizens believe that it is America’s responsibility as a developed country to aid lesser developed and struggling countries. Others believe that the U.S. should focus on it’s own economic struggles before tending to anyone else's needs. I agree with the former.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the u.s. sometimes helps underdeveloped countries, but the issue remains whether or not helping them is the right thing to do. many americans believe it is america's responsibility as a developed country to aid lesser developed and struggling countries.
- Explains that while the u.s. has many homeless people, most of the money made goes to football players and celebrities instead of working men and women.
- Opines that we should help less developed countries because if it were us, what would we want them to do?
- Opines that helping lesser developed countries is the right thing to do as a well-developed and industrialized country.
480 wordsRead More - This article describes the flaws and weaknesses of the traditional aid model as implemented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and proposes that all US foreign aid policy be implemented following the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) approach. In this critique, I will analyze the method used by the Heritage Foundation to analyze US foreign aid policy and determine whether or not it followed the policy analysis process as described by the literature.
In this essay, the author
- Explains the heritage foundation is a conservative think tank that does research and analysis of policy issues to market their findings to policymakers in the legislative and executive branch, as well as the media and academic community.
- Describes the flaws and weaknesses of the traditional aid model as implemented by the u.s. agency for international development (usaid) and proposes that all us foreign aid policy be implemented following the millennium challenge corporation approach.
- Analyzes how the heritage foundation sees usaid's approach to foreign aid as ineffective, fragmented, and without accountability system as a waste of taxpayers' money.
- Concludes that the heritage foundation's policy analysis doesn't include evidence to back up the problem as they have identified it.
- Analyzes how the policy analysis proposes an alternative to usaid's approach to development aid. the article fails to show the evidence that the mcc approach and trade agreements are effective and efficient to promote growth.
- Explains that usaid's approach to development aid is ineffective and costly, and establishes two criteria that are desirable on any policy: effectiveness and efficiency.
- Analyzes how the mcc uses objective indicators to determine which countries will receive funding as a measure of effectiveness, but fails to acknowledge the criticism.
- Concludes that the article doesn't follow the policy analysis process developed by the literature and therefore the outcome is disappointing. the think tank's mission is to promote conservative policies.
898 wordsRead More - Poverty: Statistics on Father Absenceanalytical essayAlthough trillions of dollars are being poured into impoverished countries the situation has not progressed much if at all. (1)“Trillions of dollars in aid over the last sixty years has been ineffective and has been unable to lift the poorest countries out of extreme poverty. Much of it ends up in rich African’s UK or European bank accounts and does not even help their local economy” (Malawi in Central Africa Is One of the Poorest Countries in the World). Take the example of a child who told his father every time before he played outside his shoe was untied. The father in return tied the shoe each time. What got accomplished? The child’s shoe is tied. The child’s request is fulfilled. The child then becomes dependent upon his father to get his shoe tied. In the end, the child never learned how to tie his own shoe. In the same way, if money is constantly being dumped on impoverished countries the problem will never be fixed.
In this essay, the author
- Argues that poverty can be cured by tossing away the donor-recipient model of the past and making a shift toward partnership models that value the creative potential of our brothers and sisters in the developing world through povertycure.
- Explains that povertycure understands the issue of poverty. over one billion people live on under $1.25 per day. millions of men, women, and children die of aids and preventable diseases.
- Explains that trillions of dollars are being poured into impoverished countries, but the situation has not progressed much if at all.
- Illustrates how poverty can be cured by teaching a child how to tie his own shoes.
- Explains that povertycure takes a christian approach to aid poverty. one of the main christian duties is to make disciples of all nations.
- Explains that development is about more than gdp. development has a vision for the good life which man can have. christianity is the opposite of hopelessness and utilitarianism.
- Explains that the judeo-christian tradition teaches that all humans are made in the image of the creator. man's worth is not based on anything he has done.
- Explains that salvation is a gift of god. man does not earn it. many approaches to fighting poverty do not take into account human sinfulness, leading to corruption, waste and more poverty.
- States that povertycure claims that with sound ideas and principles global poverty can be greatly reduced. scripture and the reality of human sin warn against any worldly plan that promises to fashion "a new man" and achieve a perfect society.
- Explains that since ancient times the parable of the talents and other biblical passages have encouraged the church to view honest business, including making a profit, as an opportunity for human flourishing.
- Opines that one should practice effective compassion. business enterprise is the normal way that poor communities move from poverty to prosperity, but almsgiving to assist the poor will always be a component of development.
- Narrates how a teenage girl went shopping for inner-city kids with spectrum ministries, and was chided for picking cute outfits rather than useful ones. the teen did not intend harm.
- Explains christianity teaches that the ruler is subject to the divine moral order; neither power nor consensus equals truth. this is crucial for political and economic freedom and human flourishing.
- Explains that christianity emphasizes the core competency of government—securing justice for rich and poor alike, which creates space for human flourishing.
- Argues that christians should counter the excessive individualism of western secular culture, which sees the family as inessential or marginal to integral human development.
- Explains that strong communities and voluntary associations are essential to liberty and the common good. the christian tradition emphasizes the principle of subsidiarity.
- Explains that the judeo-christian tradition provides powerful resources for encouraging the property rights of rich and poor alike. private property is not an artifact of greed and possessiveness, as many believe.
- Argues that christianity reminds us that poverty alleviation is not primarily a resource problem. it is up to christians to show the common ground.
- States that malawi in central africa is one of the poorest countries in the world. merriam-webster online dictionary.
1739 wordsRead More