Foreign Aid after the Cold War

Keith Griffin

Development and Change, 1991, vol. 22, issue 4, 645-685

Abstract: This paper argues that foreign aid programmes originated as part of the ideological confrontation known as the Cold War and that the motives behind aid were always more political than economic. It is further argued that the economic justifications for foreign aid — filling ‘gaps’ in capital, technology and skills—are suspect and that the economic benefits in terms of long‐term development are at best negligible. Turning to the future, foreign aid programmes are bound to change to reflect the new realities of global international relations. Nine specific predictions are made about the future size and composition of aid programmes. The outlook for those who favour aid is not bright, but recent changes in thinking about development suggest that more sell‐reliant strategies could well be more beneficial to the poor than conventional aid‐supported strategies.

Date: 1991
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