| Description |
Hans Morgenthau suggested that foreign aid is a mechanism to secure the national interest, and traditional powers have been using aid to pursue their interests for many years. However, some countries are pursuing foreign assistance activities outside of traditional institutions and guidelines. These nontraditional donors have also increased their aid efforts over the last decade causing many traditional donors to question their motivations. This dissertation attempts to determine why these emerging powers have increased their aid activities. It highlights how these countries use foreign assistance to secure their economic interests. This conclusion runs counter to the views of some scholars that feel aid has evolved beyond the simple pursuit of national interest and actually reflects international societal norms. A focused study of emerging powers and their aid activities provides a powerful test of these competing theoretical assumptions around interest. Importantly, emerging countries have generated significant economic success and increased political clout, so an understanding of their motivations is a key part of any future foreign policy approach for the United States and other traditional powers. Traditional aid definitions and strategies from the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) are not effective in understanding emerging power aid. This dissertation suggests a new definition and modified aid strategies that reflect emerging power interests and assistance efforts. As well, there is a gap in understanding how to classify emerging countries. This dissertation provides taxonomy with clear criteria for the emerging country group. The dissertation uses a mixed methods approach of data analysis and case studies to identify indicators of motivation and suggests a model for understanding emerging power aid. Hypotheses are developed that reflect complex interdependence theory and then tested using India, Turkey, and Brazil as case studies. The dissertation contains an analysis of primary source material for each country and uses available aid and trade data with recipients to identify a positive correlation between aid and trade. India and Turkey validate the hypotheses, while Brazil has mixed support. Overall, the results indicate that emerging powers provide foreign aid primarily for economic reasons. |
