Finance policy
Security, the War on Terror, and ODA
Has Aid become a political tool?
Authors:
K. Aning
Publisher:
North-South Institute , 2007
Is aid now used as a tool to meet geo-political ends? Has the focus shifted away from poverty-alleviation to ‘ensuring’ that, in respect of the War on Terror (WOT), recipient governments do not become unstable and a breeding ground for ‘terrorists’?
There is indeed a strong case for contending that in the post-cold war environment Overseas Development Aid (ODA) has moved away from altruism to serving donor nations’ interests. This is not a new concern – many see the War on Terror (WOT) as promoting a ‘Coalition of the Willing’ who are ‘sympathetic’ to the aims of the WOT…with resulting consequences for the donation of aid.
However, this southern-authored research offers a detailed analysis of ODA from 1970 to 2005 in order to assess the emergence of this new securitisation and politicisation of donor support. Furthermore, it relates how the post 9/11-environment has broadened the scope of aid, and caused geographical shifts in the disbursement of funds – due to a ‘security element’ being introduced.
The paper also considers changes in donor behaviour since the WOT and draws linkages between ODA, security and terrorism – applying this analysis to explore how in a practical and operational sense, these multiple dynamics have played out in a single state, Pakistan.
Considering the ‘changing’ aid environment the author concludes that:
- ODA has become highly securitised and politicised in order to serve the aims of the WOT, resulting in a lessening of support to development priorities
- Pakistan represents the most glaring example of the changing criteria of ODA, illustrating the close interconnection between security issues and the WOT – US aid to Pakistan jumped from $88.5m in 2000 to $775.6m in 2001
- The WOT is being used to justify practices that undermine the achievement of development goals and run contrary to international commitments on human rights
- There needs to be a re-evaluation of the development-security nexus – recognising development as a necessary factor in the achievement of sustainable security, and security as an indispensable factor for sustainable development.
