The Politics of American Foreign Aid

The Politics of American Foreign Aid PDF

Author: Michael O'Leary

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-09-29

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 1351477137

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Every year the Administration and the Congress battle stubbornly and often bitterly over appropriations for foreign aid. Clearly much more is at stake than a difference of opinion over a small fraction of the annual budget: the tug-of-war stems from clashes of basic political philosophies, divergent approaches to one of the most important elements of our foreign policy, and inherent conflicts among various domestic power blocs.In his book, which adds a much-needed dimension to the discussion and analysis of United States foreign policy, O'Leary reveals the many complex factors that go into the making of American foreign aid policy. While placing the emphasis on the political system as a whole--its components, the relative power of actors in the system, and the manner in which they interact to create policy--the author presents a detailed and enlightening picture of the attitudes of the general public, the political parties, the pressure groups, and Congress itself to the issue of foreign aid.Basing his work on poll data, press comment, Congressional and Executive documents, Congressional roll-call votes, and interviews with congressmen, their assistants, foreign aid officials, and lobbyists, O'Leary makes clear how the workings of the American political system affect our foreign aid policy and programs. Originally published in 1967, it remains useful for all courses dealing with our foreign relations, Congress, or the specifics of the operation of our government.

Sailing the Water's Edge

Sailing the Water's Edge PDF

Author: Helen V. Milner

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2015-09-15

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 0691165475

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How U.S. domestic politics shapes the nation's foreign policy When engaging with other countries, the U.S. government has a number of different policy instruments at its disposal, including foreign aid, international trade, and the use of military force. But what determines which policies are chosen? Does the United States rely too much on the use of military power and coercion in its foreign policies? Sailing the Water's Edge focuses on how domestic U.S. politics—in particular the interactions between the president, Congress, interest groups, bureaucratic institutions, and the public—have influenced foreign policy choices since World War II and shows why presidents have more control over some policy instruments than others. Presidential power matters and it varies systematically across policy instruments. Helen Milner and Dustin Tingley consider how Congress and interest groups have substantial material interests in and ideological divisions around certain issues and that these factors constrain presidents from applying specific tools. As a result, presidents select instruments that they have more control over, such as use of the military. This militarization of U.S. foreign policy raises concerns about the nature of American engagement, substitution among policy tools, and the future of U.S. foreign policy. Milner and Tingley explore whether American foreign policy will remain guided by a grand strategy of liberal internationalism, what affects American foreign policy successes and failures, and the role of U.S. intelligence collection in shaping foreign policy. The authors support their arguments with rigorous theorizing, quantitative analysis, and focused case studies, such as U.S. foreign policy in Sub-Saharan Africa across two presidential administrations. Sailing the Water’s Edge examines the importance of domestic political coalitions and institutions on the formation of American foreign policy.

Aiding and Abetting

Aiding and Abetting PDF

Author: Jessica Trisko Darden

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2019-12-24

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1503611000

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The United States is the world's leading foreign aid donor. Yet there has been little inquiry into how such assistance affects the politics and societies of recipient nations. Drawing on four decades of data on U.S. economic and military aid, Aiding and Abetting explores whether foreign aid does more harm than good. Jessica Trisko Darden challenges long-standing ideas about aid and its consequences, and highlights key patterns in the relationship between assistance and violence. She persuasively demonstrates that many of the foreign aid policy challenges the U.S. faced in the Cold War era, such as the propping up of dictators friendly to U.S. interests, remain salient today. Historical case studies of Indonesia, El Salvador, and South Korea illustrate how aid can uphold human freedoms or propagate human rights abuses. Aiding and Abetting encourages both advocates and critics of foreign assistance to reconsider its political and social consequences by focusing international aid efforts on the expansion of human freedom.

The Politics of United States Foreign Aid

The Politics of United States Foreign Aid PDF

Author: George M. Guess

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-11-29

Total Pages: 482

ISBN-13: 1136889841

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First published in 1987, this reissue explores contemporary United States foreign aid policies and thinking in the Reagan era. The author argues that aid policy is often confused as a result of bureaucratic decision-making processes. The book contrasts the experience of the many countries where aid-giving has produced unwished-for effects with the few countries where the desired results have occurred. The author concludes by arguing for a new approach to aid-giving by the United States.

Leave No One Behind

Leave No One Behind PDF

Author: Homi Kharas

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2019-10-29

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 081573784X

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The ambitious 15-year agenda known as the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in 2015 by all members of the United Nations, contains a pledge that “no one will be left behind.” This book aims to translate that bold global commitment into an action-oriented mindset, focused on supporting specific people in specific places who are facing specific problems. In this volume, experts from Japan, the United States, Canada, and other countries address a range of challenges faced by people across the globe, including women and girls, smallholder farmers, migrants, and those living in extreme poverty. These are many of the people whose lives are at the heart of the aspirations embedded in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. They are the people most in need of such essentials as health care, quality education, decent work, affordable energy, and a clean environment. This book is the result of a collaboration between the Japan International Cooperation Research Institute and the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings. It offers practical ideas for transforming “leave no one behind” from a slogan into effective actions which, if implemented, will make it possible to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. In addition to policymakers in the field of sustainable development, this book will be of interest to academics, activists, and leaders of international organizations and civil society groups who work every day to promote inclusive economic and social progress.

Foreign Aid as Foreign Policy

Foreign Aid as Foreign Policy PDF

Author: Jeffrey Taffet

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-08-06

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 1135867879

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Foreign Aid as Foreign Policy presents a wide-ranging, thoughtful analysis of the most significant economic-aid program of the 1960s, John F. Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress. Introduced in 1961, the program was a ten-year, multi-billion-dollar foreign-aid commitment to Latin American nations, meant to help promote economic growth and political reform, with the long-term goal of countering Communism in the region. Considering the Alliance for Progress in Chile, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Colombia, Jeffrey F. Taffet deftly examines the program’s successes and failures, providing an in-depth discussion of economic aid and foreign policy, showing how policies set in the 1960s are still affecting how the U.S. conducts foreign policy today. This study adds an important chapter to the history of US-Latin American Relations.

The Political History of American Food Aid

The Political History of American Food Aid PDF

Author: Barry Riley

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 593

ISBN-13: 0190228873

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American food aid to foreigners long has been the most visible-and most popular-means of providing humanitarian aid to millions of hungry people confronted by war, terrorism and natural cataclysms and the resulting threat-often the reality-of famine and death. The book investigates the little-known, not-well-understood and often highly-contentious political processes which have converted American agricultural production into tools of U.S. government policy. In The Political History of American Food Aid, Barry Riley explores the influences of humanitarian, domestic agricultural policy, foreign policy, and national security goals that have created the uneasy relationship between benevolent instincts and the realpolitik of national interests. He traces how food aid has been used from the earliest days of the republic in widely differing circumstances: as a response to hunger, a weapon to confront the expansion of bolshevism after World War I and communism after World War II, a method for balancing disputes between Israel and Egypt, a channel for disposing of food surpluses, a signal of support to friendly governments, and a means for securing the votes of farming constituents or the political support of agriculture sector lobbyists, commodity traders, transporters and shippers. Riley's broad sweep provides a profound understanding of the complex factors influencing American food aid policy and a foundation for examining its historical relationship with relief, economic development, food security and its possible future in a world confronting the effects of global climate change.

Foreign Aid

Foreign Aid PDF

Author: Carol Lancaster

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2008-09-15

Total Pages: 596

ISBN-13: 0226470628

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A twentieth-century innovation, foreign aid has become a familiar and even expected element in international relations. But scholars and government officials continue to debate why countries provide it: some claim that it is primarily a tool of diplomacy, some argue that it is largely intended to support development in poor countries, and still others point out its myriad newer uses. Carol Lancaster effectively puts this dispute to rest here by providing the most comprehensive answer yet to the question of why governments give foreign aid. She argues that because of domestic politics in aid-giving countries, it has always been—and will continue to be—used to achieve a mixture of different goals. Drawing on her expertise in both comparative politics and international relations and on her experience as a former public official, Lancaster provides five in-depth case studies—the United States, Japan, France, Germany, and Denmark—that demonstrate how domestic politics and international pressures combine to shape how and why donor governments give aid. In doing so, she explores the impact on foreign aid of political institutions, interest groups, and the ways governments organize their giving. Her findings provide essential insight for scholars of international relations and comparative politics, as well as anyone involved with foreign aid or foreign policy.