U.S. Foreign Aid: Its History and Implications

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Every 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.
The U.S first started giving international aid after World War II. This was because the U.S. wanted to increase its influence a...

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...nceton University Press, 2011. Print.
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McLaughlin, Jane Kitchel. “World Bicycle Relief: The Power of Mobility.” MA thesis. Dartmouth College, 2011. Print.
Moyo, Dambisa. Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way
For Africa. New York: Farrar, Staus and Giroux, 2009. Print.
Pawson, Lara. “A Charitable Apartheid.” Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits:
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Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit. New York: Bantam Books, 1992.
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