2)      Purpose of giving aid to developing countries

i)                    To gain political influence in the global diplomatic tussle

ii)                   Finding partner in any military confrontation

iii)                 To find market for exports

iv)                 To exploit the resources of the country

v)                  To build soft image

3)      Israel, Egypt, and Pakistan as models of discussion

i)                    Israel a key partner of USA

ii)                   Has received billions of dollars

iii)                 Egypt a key aid receiver

iv)                 What effect does the aid have on their economic stability?

4)      Pakistan’s growth through foreign aid.

i)                    American aid

ii)                   Not transformed to the grass root level

iii)                 Corruption

iv)                 Military aid

v)                  Given to few instead of  focusing on public welfare programs

5)      Why foreign aid does not work?

i)                    Corruption

ii)                   Given to dictators mostly with no connection to public

iii)                 Military aid

iv)                 Goes into the hands of few

v)                  Lowers the morale of a nation

vi)                 Starts vicious cycle

vii)               Nations do not work hard

6)      How to improve the situation?

i)                    Aid should be spent on public projects

ii)                   Limited aid for military and more for public welfare

iii)                 Involving NGOs and institutions of reputation

iv)                 Chinese model of giving aid

v)                  Should produce indigenous resources

vi)                 Involving local communities

7)      Conclusion

Economically, the world is divided into three types of countries; Developed countries, Developing countries, and poor countries.  Countries belonging to the first category are highly wealthy and prosperous and are capable of providing highly luxurious facilities to their citizens. Countries belonging to the second and third categories are mostly poor and their meager resources make it difficult for them to provide even the basic necessities of life to the people. Thus developing and poor countries are in dire need of foreign aid from the developed countries to keep pace with the modern world, although most of the chaotic situations in their countries are self-generation of the corrupt elite.

The developed world exploits the poor countries under the guise of economic and military aid. Aid is by these countries to further their strategic ambitions and to increase their clout, which can act as a political leverage against their rivals. The receiving countries also serve as military bases for their patron and sometimes become an actual partner in the military conflict. These countries also prove to be huge exports markets for the developed countries; giving them the much economic support they need.  Big firms and lobbyists under the umbrella of national influence invest in the poor countries and take out the much needed raw materials that the highly developed industries require. The foreign aid also helps the developed countries to portray their soft image in the world to win the hearts and minds of the people.

According to the statistics, United States of America is the biggest foreign aid donor in the world with a plan of giving $34 billion in aid to partners and poor countries in the financial year 2017 [ForeignAssistance.Gov].  America will give more than $3 billion to the state of Israel and more than $1.5 billion to the Arab Republic of Egypt. The amount of influence they enjoy on the world level is directly correlated to the aid they give to the developing world. The aid received by these two states has produced positive results in terms of betterment in the lives of common people but have not produced the results that this huge sum can produce if generated indigenously.

Pakistan has also been one the major receivers of aid from the United States of America and is expecting to receive more than $7 hundred million in the coming year but the past experience shows that it has not improved our overall economic condition. Pouring of billions of American dollars into Pakistani economy particularly during the Zia and Musharraf regime did produce a positive effect for the time being but did not last long. This superficial positive trend soon vanished when the flow of dollars began to reduce.

The negative trend in the economy of Pakistan and other poor countries in the wake of American aid show the limited positive impact that the foreign aid can produce. This is due to the fact that most of the aid goes into hands of few people who use it for their own interests instead of serving the common people. Corruption from the top to bottom in the government machinery in the poor countries never allows the aid to go to the lower level for the welfare of the people. Most of the aid is given to the poor countries for military expenses which can never be utilised for the welfare of the people. History tells us that military dictators have been the biggest receivers of the American aid whether it was General Zia regime or General Musharraf regime. Both of these dictators received heavy foreign aid due to the strategic compulsion of United States but they never transformed it into public welfare projects.

These dictators had nothing to lose because they had no connection with the General public and can never be scrutinized in the public through a direct election. Same is the current situation of the Egyptian military dictator, President. Fatah Ali Sissi, who is receiving billions of dollars from America but his country keeps on going into an economic downslide. Most of the funds have been allocated for the security apparatus to curb the mass movement of Hamas Islamists instead of investing in public projects.

Foreign aid also tends to lower the morale of a nation thus starting a vicious cycle of never-breakable clutches of poverty. This vicious cycle never allows the nation to think out of the box and to move towards ways of reducing poverty and economic disparity. Pakistan has been in this vicious cycle of the very inception and the foreign aid is not allowing us to raise our own indigenous resources to meet the needs of modern times. The vast population capital of our country is a huge resource for us if we utilize it but this population since today has never been trained and used properly for economic development due to our dependency on foreign aid.

It is the duty of both donors and receiver countries to invest this money in public welfare and development projects but the foremost duty falls on the donors to carefully craft such policies that these funds do not go into the hands of few. The involvement Non-governmental organizations and civil society on the grass root level can be instrumental in pointing out the rights projects to be funded because of their ground presence and experience in handling local development projects. Donors should carry out a proper investigation into the money wasted and a proper audit mechanism should be adopted that investigate any mishandling of the money.  A major chunk of the aid should be dedicated to the civil purposes instead of military needs because weapons can never prove to be beneficial in changing lives of the poor nations.

The biggest donor, America, should adopt the Chinese model of investing money into the public sector projects in order its tarnished image especially the Muslim World. The recent investment of China into the China-Pakistan economic corridor project is a good example of China investing money to gather goodwill of the people as well as to achieve strategic interests. The massive Chinese investment in the energy sector of Pakistan will not only help to overcome energy crisis but will also prove to be a major reference point for future economic activities throughout the region. America needs to build on the Chinese model in order to facilitate the people to generate their own indigenous resources than to keep on depending on foreign aid.

The developed economies of the world testify that aid never gives stability and prosperity; it’s the indigenous reforms and generation of resources that makes a country economically viable. Turkey, South Korea, and even India are some of the examples that are developing at a very fast rate due to their inward-looking policy for economic development. It is also the responsibility of the donors to provide aid to the poor countries for the long-term welfare of the people and not for temporary relief because we need to make them ‘resource generators ‘and not ‘beggars’.