And aid sent to troubled regions now can save money in the long term. As Defense Secretary Robert Gates noted last year: “Development contributes to stability. It contributes to better governance. And if you are able to do those things and you’re able to do them in a focused and sustainable way, then it may be unnecessary for us to send soldiers.”
Five Myths
A feature from The Post’s Outlook section that dismantles myths, clarifies common misconceptions and makes you think again about what you thought you already knew.
4. Foreign governments waste the aid we give them.
During the Cold War, some foreign aid was directed to friendly dictators with little regard for their own people, such as Zaire’s President Mobutu Sese Seko. Local corruption also swallowed assistance to Haiti after 2010’s earthquake. But when aid is wasted, it’s more often a result of stateside congressional inefficiency.
For example, Congress mandates that 75 percent of all U.S. international food aid be shipped aboard U.S. flagged vessels — ships registered in the United States. A study by several researchers at Cornell University concluded that this subsidy of elite U.S. shipping companies cost American taxpayers $140 million in unnecessary transportation costs during 2006 alone.
The Government Accountability Office noted that between 2006 and 2008, U.S. food aid funding increased by nearly 53 percent, but the amount of food delivered actually decreased by 5 percent. Why? Because our food aid policies are swayed by an agribusiness lobby that stresses buying American, not buying cheaply.
5. No one ever graduates from U.S. foreign aid.
The notion that poor countries are doomed to stay poor has always been part of the foreign aid debate in the United States. Nations across Latin America and Asia were dismissed in the 1960s as perennial basket cases, yet countries in both regions combined sensible reforms with a jump-start from U.S. assistance programs to achieve dynamic, lasting growth. According to the United States International Trade Commission, 10 of the 15 largest importers of American goods and services, including countries such as South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, graduated from U.S. foreign aid programs.
Flagship efforts such as those undertaken by the Millennium Challenge Corporation, established under George W. Bush, make clear that the United States expects progress in combating corruption, improving governance and tackling economic reforms in exchange for assistance.
That’s the most enduring truth about foreign aid: Though it probably won’t do more than blunt the suffering in some places, it can make a lasting difference in countries committed to change. Sure, it’s a bet. But it doesn’t have to be a long shot.
John Norris is the executive director of the sustainable security program at the Center for American Progress.
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