The Ambiguity of Foreign Aid

By Addissu Admas

It seems that America is no longer interested in leading the world as we have been told ad nauseam for decades. Donald Trump, by repeating his “America First” mantra, by imposing a stream of indefensible tariffs on friend and foe countries, by cutting off vital aid to poorer nations, by showing utter disregard to the suffering and oppressed of the world, etc.… has virtually abdicated America’s supposed position as leader of nations. What he wants now is America’s greatness at the expense of others and not for or with others. For him the world is not where cooperation should prevail but Darwinian antagonism to extract the maximum profit for America, especially its billionaire class and vast corporations.

Is America today any different under Mr. Trump than in the past? Is Mr. Trump a complete anomaly? Has America been “great” in the past for the world? We are constantly bombarded with the notion that America has been a force for the good in the world. That through its leadership two world wars ended sooner than later, its economic infrastructure (just to name the most well-known, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund) benefitted supposedly virtually every poor nation in the world. It has presumably been the principal promoter of democracy and staunch opponent of authoritarian rule, the generous funder of international aid organizations, etc.… All perhaps true to some limited extent. 

However, one need not forget that America has also been the creator of “banana republics”, i.e. those Central American countries which were effectively owned and run by American corporations that not only exploited the local poor laborers to the bone, but constantly organized coups to install friendlier governments to themselves. Who can forget the numerous coups that have occurred everywhere around the world at the behest, and even direct involvement of the US government with hardly any support from the local population? What of the politics, violations, and conflicts behind America’s insatiable thirst for Petroleum? Let’s not get started with the deleterious and unconscionable influence that America has had on the world’s environment, health and culture.

Mr. Trump and his MAGA followers should not harbor any illusion that his decision to “withdraw” from the world, to be not in cooperation with but competition against the world to “recapture” its never lost supremacy is a pure paranoid phantasy. By withdrawing help to the “wretched of the earth” at the suggestion of a megalomaniacal, manic and racist billionaire, Trump is in essence telling the world not only that he does not care about the poor and suffering, but his own legacy. Most of the presidents of recent decades, parallel to their Machiavellian machinations, have tried consistently to show America’s “kinder and gentler” side. Trump, like the worst authoritarian leaders he admires, is only interested in projecting power to the world. Rather than a negotiator, he is an intimidator. His advisors, if they indeed deserve such an appellation, need to make him understand clearly that the world has already ceased to be unipolar, i.e. with only one power. Today China has more claim to be a superpower than the former Soviet Union. And it is destined to be even more powerful, richer and influential with every decade to come. 

The Trump administration does not understand at all that bullying the world, depriving the world’s poor of “the crumbs which have fallen from the table” of a super wealthy America succeeds only in making the world resent America. No one questions that governmental agencies can be unnecessarily wasteful. Trying to turn them into efficient business-like corporations is not only virtually impossible, but it is based on a very misguided premise: Businesses are founded and run to maximize profit as their overriding goal. Government agencies are designed to provide public service. One is geared to taking, the other to giving. There is no question that all aid organizations suffer from inefficiency and waste, and in some cases, corruption as well. But to scrap them altogether reflects very poorly not only on the current administration, but on the very character of the American people. How can one justify all the clamors of being a Christian nation? Does being Christian mean being un-Christian to others?

Even if America withdraws all its help, there are fortunately other wealthy nations willing to step in and provide the necessary help. China or the EU can step in to help and reap all the benevolence and goodwill of the poor of the world. America will in fact become less powerful, less influential and even less wealthy by giving less, or worse, nothing!

China has already captured the goodwill of quite many Asian, African, and growingly, Latin American countries. It may not be handing in great quantities of food, medicine, or providing the tools of basic education. However, following its millennial proverb, it is teaching poor nations on how to fish rather than wait to be handed fish. Today China is a bigger lender to African countries than the World Bank. Chinese companies are engaged in building much needed infrastructures that will accelerate economic developments. No one is so naïve as to believe that this help is given out of the goodness of the Chinese Communist Party. However, the CCP is not so complacent as to take for granted the goodwill of Third World people. 

Mr. Trump has shown on several occasions that not only he does not care about the goodwill or gratitude of the world’s poor nations, but that he has utter contempt for them. They are, as he put it crassly, “S*hole countries”. Sadly, even after being insulted in such degrading terms, many African leaders were willing to kiss his ring.

Many have argued that Trump’s intention to eliminate foreign aid to poor nations may be the right occasion to roll-up their sleeves and get to work to make their nations self-sufficient. This is a commendable and praiseworthy thought. But will it have this desired effect?

In our very own Ethiopia, where we can’t even agree on the fundamental civic duty to agree to disagree without tearing each other apart, to co-exist peacefully, to sort out our differences without the gun, to discuss our fundamental issues without trying to silence each other, how can we come together to resolve our most basic needs? Until the day we succeed in resolving the fundamental issues of our ethnically most diverse nation democratically, we are condemned to fail again and again. And therefore, we will forever be dependent on the charity of wealthier nations and at the mercy of their demands. The fact is that we need to resolve our issues before we rush to celebrate the end of foreign aid. 

Editor’s Note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
__
Subscribe: https://borkena.com/subscribe-borkena/

Join our Telegram Channel : t.me/borkena

Like borkena on Facebook

Add your business to Ethiopian Business Listing / Ethiopian Business Directory  

Join the conversation. Follow us on X (Formerly Twitter)  @zborkena to get the latest Ethiopian News updates regularly.  Subscribe to YouTube channel To share information or for submission, send e-mail to info@borkena.com