Growing up I thought Americans were the superheroes of the world. When I heard stories about America helping other countries after an earthquake or a famine I felt proud. I thought foreign aid was one of the best things we did as a country. But after taking this class and especially after reading The Crisis Caravan, by Linda Polman, I believe that aid is usually a carefully disguised bribe to achieve America’s military and political goals.
Polman’s book focuses on war zones like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia, to show how time and time again, aid that was meant for victims of wars actually ends up in the wrong hands and makes things worse for the people in these countries. And many times, that was probably the original intention of the American military and policy leaders who determine the use of aid.
The only time aid is apolitical is when it is emergency aid in response to a natural disaster. Emergency response aid is often given because ordinary citizens who are stunned by the death and destruction demand that their leaders offer help. Since multiple countries all over the world usually give this type of aid, no specific country’s political agenda can be tied to it. The other kind of aid that usually doesn’t have a political agenda is aid focused on health, like the efforts by the Gates Foundation and some governments to combat malaria, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Healthcare aid saves millions of lives and usually is not tainted by political agendas.
Most so-called humanitarian aid, however, is given to promote by the interest of the country giving the aid. We learned in this class, from Polman’s book, and from the experience of the humanitarian workers in Emergency Sex, that despite the best intentions of many aid workers, self-interest is usually at the center of most of America’s humanitarian-aid programs. Aid given during wars for example, is almost always motivated by a desire to help the side we support. Even when we claim the aid has a humanitarian purpose, it can’t help but be political when two sides are fighting over resources. That is why we see situations where aid is diverted to help the wrong people, or sold to fund a war, or used for other corrupt purposes by someone in the country who has their own political agenda.
America’s aid programs have often been part of campaigns to win “the hearts and minds” of people in a war zone or developing country. Many nations, including ours, have used aid to convince people in a particular country that the nation giving the aid is on their side. It is actually a bribe, and a sneaky and malicious one; since the people receiving the aid are usually so desperate they have no choice but to accept.
The Peace Corps, founded by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, is a good example of using aid as a “force multiplier.” America was involved in a Cold War with the Soviet Union, which was sending hundreds of high-level aid workers all over the world to show people in developing countries the benefits of communism.The Peace Corps was a direct effort to use aid and aid workers to counter the Soviet Union’s propaganda in developing countries and instead promote the American ideals of democracy and capitalism.
Most foreign aid does act as a force multiplier to achieve America’s political and military goals. Aid always comes with strings attached and no matter what our government says about their “good intentions” to help the poor and suffering people of developing countries, when you scratch the surface you always find selfish and often evil motives. Polman quotes Colin Powell, then, George W. Bush’s secretary of state who said in a speech, “Just as surely as our diplomats and military, American NGOs are out there serving and sacrificing on the front lines of freedom…. NGO’s are such a force multiplier for us, such an important part of our combat team. (Polman 140). Powell’s quote makes clear that America doesn’t offer aid because we care about starving children, we do it because we want to achieve our own political and military goals.
Even charity in Alamance County can be seen as a “force multiplier.” Every bit of charity given to Alamance County residents, whether it’s food stamps, free medical care, or low income housing, makes it possible for big corporations to continue to pay people wages that do not allow them to support themselves and their families.
In summary, I believe aid is a trick. People think they’re getting something for free, but they’re really being manipulated by the powerful people who run the world. The governments and non-profit organizations that provide aid get good press for doing it, but in reality they are just helping to perpetuate an unequal system where some people have so much extra they can give it away, and other people have so little, their only chance of survival is to beg for help from the 1%.
Works Cited
Polman, Linda. The Crisis Caravan: What’s Wrong with Humanitarian Aid? Translated by Liz Waters, Metropolitan Books, 2010.
Cain, Kenneth, Heidi Postlewait, Andrew Thomson. Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories From a War Zone. Ebury, 2006
Schadlow, Nadia. “There Is No Neutral.” Foreign Policy, 17 Mar. 2011, foreignpolicy.com/2011/03/16/there-is-no-neutral-2/.
Gans, John, et al. “The Coldest Days of the Cold War: Lessons from Two American Presidents.” Center for American Progress, www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/reports/2008/09/26/4964/the-coldest-days-of-the-cold-war/.
“Military Intervention and the Humanitarian ‘Force Multiplier.’” Research Gate, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261775902_Military_Intervention_and_the_Humanitarian_Force_Multiplier. Accessed 17 May, 2019