In your opinion, a good idea in principle or not? Should the state be at all involved or should it be left solely to private charities, bearing in mind that state aid can bring benefits to the donor countries? How can donor countries make sure it is used as it was meant to be used? Should ideological western countries give to help struggling countries which live by different ideals or how much should it be used to manipulate recipient countries including changes in their cultures? Any thoughts?
Charity begins at home. I believe the US forks out entirely too much foreign aid. Let some other countries step up to the plate and do their part
most american foreign aid takes the form of military equipment, training, and various infrastructure projects associated with warfare. i propose we stop it as soon as practical and reassess our evolving global priorities. but, of course, military industrial corporations might disagree. the same people who oppose food stamps ("fo no feed the bears") think nothing is wrong picking up the tab for israel's extensive social welfare programs;
I'm a Conservative Catholic we give to the needy until it hurts.. List of countries by charitable donation - Wikipedia
But do you think this is right or are you only doing what you have been told to do, nd have no control over?
That's an odd question? I guess that too is a good example of an American vs European value! We are not told to give our disposable wealth away, we are asked to donate.. My God, has it become that bad outside the U.S.
Foreign aid is not simply charity. It's beneficial to us. It gives us leverage over the countries that receive it. So yes, it does help us manipulate those countries. But it also helps decrease illegal immigration to the U.S. It increases our exports. Foreign aid intended to address health concerns helps stop the spread of epidemics that could affect us.
The left's hero Fauci permitted illegal foreign aid to the Wuhan lab that unleashed covid-19 on the world....that damn sure affected us. As for the common variety foreign aid, it's simply welfare to a bunch of (mostly) first world countries....bribes...so they will be 'our friends'...and in return, we (through NATO mostly) install military equipment that provides the military industrial complex a means of getting rich as well as the politicians that support them (through kickbacks and insider trading). I'm against all foreign aid....especially to 'rich' countries like Israel and Germany....as well as backwards ass countries like Afghanistan ruled by muslim nuts.
I wrote a paper on this over 20 years ago and my views have not changed. Even ignoring humanitarian arguments I still believe that foreign aid is an essential policy tool. This is the domain China is fighting in and right now they are dominating.
I have spoken about this a lot on this forum but in a nutshell China invest huge amounts of money in countries in Africa and the Middle East. They do this to expand their sphere of influence. When you build factories, roads, infrastructure, ports in poor countries you gain influence. When they offer 1 billion doses of vaccines to African countries they are not doing because they feel guilty or for humanitarian reasons they are doing it to expand influence. The thing is China is only mimicking the US. This is what we used to do and how the US gained it influence worldwide. From the Marshal Plan to aid all around the world this is what we did to expand our influence. Some people accuse China of "Debt-Trap Diplomacy" but I do not think that is entirely true. I think China looks at the world with a long run lens. They have the huge advantage that they are connected to most of the modern world by land. Their expansion and investment into Afghanistan is part of they grand plan to unite Kabul and then ultimately Tehran with Beiiing. China is betting close to a trillion dollars that Iran will return to being a central leader in the Middle East because they know if they own the middle east it opens up Europe.
If the air was part of our obligation in a treaty then we must honor our word. Otherwise, any aid should be based on voluntary non-profits and the government should stay out.
And this underscores just how badly our politics have gotten where the benefits of using foreign aid have become another dividing line in our political polarization.
The US has foreign aid to other countries to keep them in the US's sphere of influence. So yeah, makes sense. Keep doing it.
I don't want to end up hijacking the ops thread but I agree. This is yet another example of how tribalism has led us to take sides instead of understanding policy.
When foreign countries come before our own citizens, there is a problem. When US taxpayers fund 'foreign aid' to a country that spits on the US, it harms this country. What leverage do we have with a third world nation that has nothing to barter? I do believe in humanitarian aid, it the way of natural disasters, at the people level. Handing a hostile government millions/billions of dollars doesn't provide relief to those who need it. And they have proven that it buys no guarantees....
Send material instead of money. Food and medicine should usually suffice, tho Im open to sending weapons in special circumstances. Sending money never benefits the people, but rather strengthens the regime oppressing them. This is by design, of course.
So far, there are two people on this thread who understand the issue. I suggest that the rest of you do a little research before you claim that foreign aid does not benefit the American people. Start with the Marshall Plan: https://www.britannica.com/event/Marshall-Plan
I think the US has to decide on a long term strategy for places like the African continent and the Middle East and create a plan on how to achieve those goals BUT IMO I think foreign aid is an essential tool in our diplomacy tool box. We need to consider what role we want to have in Africa? Do you want to part of the economy or simply trade with them? Do you want to build American companies and factories there or simply buy the good they produce. China has decided they want to be part of everything. They are building factories, offices, shipping ports, roads, providing them jobs etc... Unfortunately they have a lot more money to throw at them then we do. I think we need to engage our experts and come up with a plan. Look at places of opportunity for us. In the past we are very good a building military bases it is now time to start investing more in economic centers. We need to leverage our advantages in technologies unfortunately China is getting ahead of us in many key aspects of that area too. The Sahara dessert could be the biggest future world supply of energy but who leads the world in solar panel production and research? Who leads the world in rare earth metals which is used everything from all of our most advance military tech to cell phones.
The whole purpose of the Democratic and Republican Conventions is for the parties to roll out their policies. What was 2020's Republican policy platform? Re-elect Trump. That's it. Nothing more folks other than re-elect the Orange Messiah. It is blatantly obvious that one party has become about nothing more than political power at the expense of the nation and our democracy.
I am not a fan of getting into partisan squabbles but I will say this. The people that generally say we should ignore the rest of the world and spend our money on America first are the same people that will raise up and complain about China and the influence they exert. They will point fingers at all the policies they disagree with and blame those as the reasons for China's rise ignoring the policies they support. I always said Trump was right about China, it is just his policies failed and failed badly.
Since apparently you have no idea what actual US citizen's deal with on a regular basis, I've provided you with some links to statistics. Placing other countries above our own people.... Homeless population - USAFacts Mental Health (va.gov) Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the U.S.: 2020 (census.gov)
