Comprehensive Analysis of US Foreign Aid Programs and Policies

This report provides an analysis of the U.S. foreign aid system. It begins by outlining the total spending on foreign aid, approximately $49 billion in 2015, which represents about 1.3% of the federal budget, and the historical context of aid spending, including the post-World War II era and the impact of 9/11. The report discusses the objectives of U.S. foreign aid, including national security, promoting democracy, and humanitarian efforts. It also explores various criticisms of the system, such as the ineffectiveness of aid, the potential for military aid to support repressive regimes, and concerns about wasteful spending. The report references the arguments of economists like William Easterly, Sir Angus Deaton, and Dambisa Moyo, highlighting their perspectives on the impact and effectiveness of U.S. foreign aid programs. The report aims to offer a comprehensive overview of the U.S. foreign aid system, its spending, objectives, and criticisms, providing a balanced view of the issues involved.

The estimation comes out to be different from various funding methods and categories of aid
associated with the efforts of U.S. foreign assistance. As per the nonpartisan congressional
research service, the broad definition of aid comprises of security assistance and military, and its
total spending is approximate $49 Billion in the year 2015. It is nearly 1.3 % of the federal
budget. After Second World War the level of aid funding is at their highest as the highest
investment in rebuilding the European economies are done by the United States. The level of aid
is cut down as compared to the today's level in the year 1990, and the overall budget is decreased
by to less than $20 Billion in the year 1997 which is 0.8 % of the overall budget. After the attack
of 9/11, the aid was rose again which surpassed the overall budget by 1.4% in the year 2007so
according to the analyst it was driven mainly by the assistance to Afghanistan and Iraq, but it is
also influenced by the global health programs of President George W. Bush.
The aid expert Carol Lancaster and former state department official has discussed in the book,
namely, Foreign Aid: Diplomacy, Development, and Domestic politics, modern U.S. aid which
is originated in cold war geographic: the Marshall plan in order to rebuild Europe that was
designed to blunt the influence of rising communist political forces on the continent. The U.S.
assistance policy is continuously derived from the national security continuously which aims to
provide stability in conflicts region, promote democracy, bolster allies, and contribute to
counterterrorism as well as law enforcement efforts abroad. There are other objectives also
which are related to, but they are separated from U.S. national security. It also comprises of
humanitarian relief efforts in order to respond directly to the acute disasters, health care, poverty
reduction, and other development programs. The US aid policy is working to achieve the aim
through a diverse array of programs that can be organized into broad major categories. The
foreign aid spending in the year 2015 is explained below as per the CRS calculations:

The different aspects of global foreign aid system are criticized by the number of economists as
ineffective. According to the William Easterly who was the New York University professor and
world bank economist has made the case in his book which was published in 2006, namely, The
White Man's Burden, in which the development aid of dominated by top-down planners as well
as bureaucrats with the little accountability and there were scant evidence which boosts the long-
term growth of the country. Easterly is also one of the highly critical linking aid in order to
counterterrorism the efforts, due to which other analysts have also warned regarding the potential
for military aid in specific that has come under fire for the potential to bolster repressive regimes.
It is argued by Nobel laureate Sir Angus Deaton that the corrupt government lifeline is given
by aid and it is insulated from the political pressure which leads to creating better
functioning state. According to the Dambisa Moyo who is the Zambian economist writes
that approximately $1 trillion flows in aid to Africa in the previous decades, but since the
1970s the real per capital income has been improved on the continent. The U.S. aid is
criticized by some of the analysts and mainly in Congress as wasteful spending.