COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE GUARDIAN
Foreign aid by governments, in general, has little to do
with helping people, although speeches on the subject always contain the empty
words.
Most of foreign-aid payments are effectively bribes used to influence
the behavior of states, especially in the donor county’s receiving votes of
support in international institutions and forums. Being a sizable donor gives a
government the power - and it is used often, but always on a confidential basis
- to threaten to stop or reduce payments.
It is not unlike the "pensions" that one state -
say, France or Spain - awarded individuals in other states - say, an important high
official in Britain - in the sixteenth century. The “pensions” were about
influence.
Corrupt politician-recipients, who generally use the money
for their own security, are tolerated by donor countries so long as they do
what is expected at key times.
This basic way of operating foreign aid is a major reason
for its often being such a visible failure, but I do not see how it can be any
different, people being what they are, and I mean by that politicians, both the
David Camerons doing the giving and the third-world leaders socking it away in
Swiss Bank accounts.
