ipl-logo

Essay On The Pros And Cons Of Giving Foreign Aid

991 Words4 Pages

The idea of giving foreign aid to those in need may seem noble at glance. Yet, if we look deeper into the issue and observe the outcome, what we discover may not exactly be a positive impact on the recipient countries. An efficient aid-giving program requires more than just good intentions. It would be hard to argue that foreign aid has not done any good, when there are also plenty of cases where foreign aid has been used efficiently. However, as that is rather an exception than a rule, in this essay I will look at the cons of foreign aid claiming that it is actually not fulfilling it’s purpose.
The reasons behind giving aid are simple and somewhat naive. Countries that are better off feel morally obliged to help poorer countries in need. It is believed that aid will improve people’s lives and will reduce poverty. However noble the cause, generous contributions without thorough analysis do not always lead to good outcomes. Actually, some of the aid …show more content…

Food is also a common option, but thinking that food is a safe and risk-free option to help the people in the recipient country could prove to be wrong. Nathan Nunn and Nancy Qian, from Harvard and Yale respectively, have studied the effects of sending food aid from the United States of America. They did so over a relatively long period of time, from 1971 to 2006 and the research compromised of 125 developing countries. The research shows that the amount of food aid sent to Africa from America is actually mostly based on the weather conditions, not on needs. The authors also conclude that sending more food aid actualy increases the amount of civil conflict in the region. They speculate the reason to be that armed groups of people stealing the food aid as they have seen the same pattern in the past. For instance, during the Nigeria-Biafra civil war in the 1960s, rebel leader Odumegwu Ojukwu took the food aid to feed his soldiers, which helped prolong the conflict for years.

Show More
Related

  • 1980 Dbq Essay

    1016 Words  | 5 Pages

    When it comes to the famine in Ethiopia, how did the government make it worse? In the 1980s, a famine in Ethiopia occurred and was one of the worst events of the twentieth century. Ethiopia’s food shortage and hunger crisis led to at least one million deaths. A question asked a lot is why the famine of 1983 to 1985 was so disastrous. One of the main focuses was because of the government's actions and programs.

    Read More

  • Dbq Essay On Assistance To The Poor

    880 Words  | 4 Pages

    People in authority tend to disregard those who and that which does not benefit them, since the poor did not seem to benefit anybody, people in authority found them useless. (documents 2,3,4) Emperor Charles V had said in an imperial decree for the Netherlands in 1531, that the poor should be helped enough to have the power to survive on their own and not constantly giving them alms (Doc 2). “Many errors and abuses will result, for they will fall into idleness” (Doc 2) Charles V had stated that those who constantly beg for food or money take advantage of the kindness of the European population which will cause them to maintain that lifestyle of only begging for someone to help. Since Emperor Charles V is someone who has to give orders and have

    Read More

  • Summary Of Peter Singer's Famine

    305 Words  | 2 Pages

    Peter Singer’s “Famine, Affluence, and Morality,” lays out a strong argument on why we are morally obligated to help those in need if we can. He first lays down a platform by saying that suffering and dying from starvation is bad, which most reasonable people would agree with. He builds on this by saying that if we can prevent something bad without causing any harm, then we are morally obligated to do it. This argument, much like the first, is one that would be widely accepted since most people wouldn’t want something bad to occur if they can prevent it.

    Read More

  • The Peace Corps Analysis

    365 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the 1960’s John F Kennedy created the Peace Corps to help third world. It is a service for people who would like to change the world. Even in the past, the motives of the peace corps were criticized and accused of using the organization to benefit the U.S. The Peace Corps is a two year program that focuses on the most pressing challenges that a country is enduring. Volunteers are sent out to different countries to peace and friendship. The volunteers do this by the American culture to the host country and the host country teaches the Americans what their culture is like.

    Read More

  • State Of Florida Essay

    593 Words  | 3 Pages

    Likewise with states, this exchange furnishes them with required produce; on the other hand, for some nations, sustenance fares are the primary financial calculate the achievement of the nation and without this exchange, their financial feasibility would be genuinely traded off. This is additionally vital on the grounds that alongside exchanging nourishment for cash, as a rule nourishment is exchanged for different needs, for example, vitality, innovation, security, and so on., that the specific nation may not be equipped for accommodating themselves. Generally as with states, the nourishment exchanges regularly attempts to make political bonds between distinctive

    Read More

  • Essay On Should America Have A Million Dollars In Debt

    636 Words  | 3 Pages

    Currently America is nationally nineteen trillion dollars in debt. If America is struggling to economically grow or even maintain itself at the time then how is it possible to help maintain other countries with such prodigious amounts of financial aid. America spends thirty five billion dollars per year to aid for other countries. This contributes to the current economic imbalance . I know what many are probably thinking what about medicare and obamacare.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Big Truck That Went By Katz

    979 Words  | 4 Pages

    Foreign aid is not actually beneficial to those countries going through disasters, and needs to be updated. If the money people from around the world are donating to a specific cause isn’t actually going to help those it says it will directly, than the system is corrupt and needs to change. Personally, I am in agreeance with Katz argument on foreign aid. I believe that this “aid” isn’t benefiting anyone, neither the people offering donations nor those trying to receive

    Read More

  • African Imperialism: Violence And Violence In Africa

    909 Words  | 4 Pages

    Africa is typically thought of as being a continent full of violence and revolution. This concept may have originated from the poor treatment of Africans by the rest of the world through colonization, forced labor in Africa, and the enslaving of Africans in other regions of the world. The danger and violence that stemmed from many countries gaining independence and experiencing political upheaval has been thwarted by peacekeeping efforts from outside agencies, like the United Nations. Africa has had a violent past, but only because of the exploitation by the Europeans, and eventually Americans. Ultimately, their ethnocentrism led to violence and the stereotype of danger in Africa.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Refugee Crisis

    1292 Words  | 6 Pages

    The estimated number of refugees leaving their own country since World War II is one hundred million ("Refugee”). A refugee is a person who has left their country because of fear of their safety due to violence, race, religion, or war. Supporting and solving today’s refugee crisis is especially controversial because of the current events, financing, and security issues. ("Refugee Facts”). Climate change and natural disasters sometimes cause people to leave their homes or countries.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of American Imperialism

    634 Words  | 3 Pages

    With the help of modern technologies and an aid in the expansion of European empires was a desired effect of imperialism. US imperialism was meant to “help” and “rebuild” the US, but as with anything else, there came obstacles. So the question is, was imperialism beneficial or non beneficial? Imperialism is the policy in which stronger nations extend their economic, political, or military control over weaker territories. Imperialism has its pros and cons and its advantages and disadvantages.

    Read More

  • Peter Singer's Arguments For Helping Overseas Aid Groups

    557 Words  | 3 Pages

    If Americans were to send all the excess money overseas, they would not have a comfortable amount of money if something unexpected were to come up that they had to pay for. Several Americans have had unpredictable events happen in their life, including the death of a loved one or an illness they were not expecting. Even today, many Americans do not have enough money to pay for these unforeseen events. If they were to send all their excess money away they may not have any support from others as well, which may put them in the same predicament as those they were trying to help. Another con for sending all the excess money to overseas aid groups would be that this has failed in the past.

    Read More

  • Foreign Aid Argumentative Essay

    1035 Words  | 5 Pages

    The foreign aid program is created to bring an end to poverty, conflicts and other difficulties that poor-developed countries are enabled to solve it. Everything is not about money, but it is about power, political view or group society. In many well-developed countries, corruption and political control are being reviewed by the UN and other governance, because they could be penalized or have sanctions. In a less-developed country that are already being helped with foreign aid, the governance and other aid programs must have their hands tied when it comes to penalized or sanctioned, because they are already in need, therefore corruption is created in those less-developed countries and hunger follows. There is the end of hungriness that is currently trying to be solved in the world, but there are still conflicts with political control that keeps the foreign aid to cause hunger in

    Read More

  • Essay On Humanitarian Intervention

    882 Words  | 4 Pages

    On the legal grounds, the act of humanitarian intervention is still debatable, On the one hand, there was a responsibility to limit the use of force to self-defense according to the UN Charter. On the other hand, there was strong international pressure to abide by commitments to human rights and the right to life. This has constitute tensions in an international law system, Humanitarian intervention as the justifiable act to intervene while it is contrary to the principle of sovereignty and nonintervention in the UN system and international law. An evolving international norms related to human rights and the use of force.

    Read More

  • Advantages Of Bilateral Foreign Aid

    1357 Words  | 6 Pages

    For example India is one of the biggest importers of Israel defensive weapons. 5. Prestige aid: The purpose of Prestige Aid is to enhance the prestige of donor countries as well as the recipient countries.certain projects are undertaken in a developing country not because they are economically or military useful but they enhance the international prestige of the donor or increase the status of recipient in international elations 6. Economic aid: it started after world war 2. The purpose of economic aid is to enhance the economically weak countries by giving them monetary aid.

    Read More

  • Importance Of International Relations Essay

    894 Words  | 4 Pages

    INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS BE A MECHANISM FOR EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. FORTUNATA MULEKUZI REGISTRATION NUMBER: PG201401993 A CONCEPT NOTE SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNIVERSIDADE FERNANDO PESSOA AND OPEN UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA 2016 Background to the Problem The phenomenon international relations emerged at the beginning of the 20th century largely in the West and in particular in the United States as that country grew in power and influence. Bloomfield et al.

    Read More

More about Essay On The Pros And Cons Of Giving Foreign Aid

Open Document