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  June 2, 2004

RICHER, MEANER AND LESS SECURE

Richer and Meaner
The latest (2002) data on foreign aid is just out, and the subject of the biennial Reality of Aid report from a global consortium of aid agencies including CARE and OXFAM. In real dollar terms, the gap between income per capita and foreign aid per capita in the developed world continues to grow. And the gap between military spending and foreign aid spending is growing even faster.
Richer and Meaner chart 2
And the news behind the figures is even worse:
  • Much of the foreign aid money represented by the tiny green bars above never leaves the donor country -- it goes to pay for activities 'related' to the foreign country that take place at home.
  • Much of the foreign aid money is earmarked for donor priorities, or subject to ideological restrictions (like the Bush Regime's prohibition on foreign aid money going to agencies that counsel birth control or abortion), so it doesn't go where the need is greatest or where it would achieve the greatest good.
  • An increasing share of 'foreign aid' money is actually going to 'anti-terrorism' activities that provide increased security for donor country nationals, rather than benefiting the country's citizens.
  • Donor nations have great latitude to define what constitutes "foreign aid" and have recently been using more generous and inclusive definitions of the term.
  • Less and less of the money goes to the world's poorest and most destitute nations, and more and more to third world nations in which the donor country has a financial interest.
  • The countries with the most crippling foreign debt burdens tend to receive the least foreign aid.
  • While the green foreign aid data above is from 2002, the red military spending data is from 2000, before these countries dramatically increased military spending to combat terrorism.
There are two ways to fight terrorism: Fight the symptom (terrorist violence) militarily, or fight the disease (poverty, disease, lack of infrastructure, and hopelessness) through humanitarian aid. The charts above make it clear which option we have chosen. We should not be surprised at the consequences of our miserliness, or our poor judgement.

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