This book presents an integrated analysis, at once conceptual, historical, and political, of the growing impact of State Funded Aid on international relations, particularly after the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the end of the bipolar system.
In order to observe Aid as an emerging instrument of foreign policy, the book develops an original approach which puts Donors and Recipients on the same level and examines the political dynamics of their relationship. The focus shifts from looking at the needs covered by Aid interventions to the political motivations of Donors and Recipients. Aid is reconceptualized to include any transaction on favourable terms between these two parties, regardless of the object of that Aid. This framework of analysis is applied to several historical cases, from the post-conflict transition in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the post-Soviet one in Russia in the 1990s to the medical Aid to Italy and Russian vaccine diplomacy to the Republic of San Marino during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the end, the book identifies ten major trends that have shaped the dynamics of the relationship between Donors and Recipients over the past few decades, and on a more general level, traces the impact that State Funded Aid has had on the international system.
By arguing that, on the whole, Donors have had greater political interests than Recipients, the book takes a fresh and original look at Aid as instrument of Power Politics. It will be of great interest to students, scholars, and practitioners of Foreign Aid and foreign policy, and to all those interested in analysing how they have been affected by the global pandemic.
Author(s): Igor Pellicciari
Series: Innovations in International Affairs
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 169
City: London
Cover
Endorsement
Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
Prequel: The Unstoppable Rise of Aid in Foreign Policy
The Growing Centrality of Aid in International Relations
Aid as a Key Element in Understanding Foreign Policy
The Conceptual, Historical, and Political Dimensions of Aid
The (D > R) Relation
Impact On the International System
Post Scriptum Disclaimer: Is Aid Good Or Bad?
Part I The Conceptual Dimension of Aid
1 Framing a New Concept of Aid in Foreign Policy
Heading Towards Aid Wars?
The Importance of Variables in the History of International Relations
Adding the Aid Variable
Three Prejudices About Aid
An Aid Concept for Historical Research
Part II The Historical Dimension of Aid
2 Aid Before and After the Breakdown of the Berlin Wall
Towards a Post-World War II Periodization of Aid
The Third Phase: Towards Global Aid
The Multiple Transitions of the Post-War Bosnian Scenario
IAPPs in Post-Conflict Scenarios
Active Donors in BiH
Recipients in BiH
Main Aspects of the (D > R) Relation in BiH
Donor-Driven Relation
Donor Overload
Donors’ (Non)Coordination
Donor-Influenced Socio-Economic Development
The Role of Implementing Agents in the (D > R) Relation
The Devil in the Details: From Cycle to Circus Project Management
The Project “Circus” Management
Programming and Identification
Appraisal and Financing
Inconsistent Aid Design
Jumbo Financing
Over-Competitive Bidding
Non-Transparent/Non-Homogeneous/Slow Contracting
Implementation and Evaluation
Aid Ineffective-Efficient Implementation
Juke-Box Sustainability
(Non)Independent Evaluation
The Russian Case: Before Becoming a Re-Emerging Donor
The Transition of the Russian Post-Soviet Scenario
IAPPs in Russia in the 1990s: The Main Differences With the Bosnian Case
3 Aid in the COVID-19 Outbreak
The Present and Future of COVID-19
Phase One of the Pandemic: The Failure of Multilateralism
The Italian Case
Rich Recipient and Catch-All Donor
The Poor Donor
Regarding Foreign Policy Interests
Urgent Aid
Twinning Projects
Budget Support
Delegated Agreement
4 Vaccines as Aid
Pandemic Phases Two and Three
The Eastern Geopolitical Vaccine
The Western Economic-Commercial Vaccine
The Lonely Race of the Eastern Vaccine
San Marino: Aid Size Does Not Matter
Part III The Political Dimension of Aid
5 Ten Conclusions
The First Conclusion: Donors Have Had Greater Interests Than Recipients
The Second Conclusion: Donors’ Underlying Objectives Were the Same, Regardless of the Type of Aid Provided
The Third Conclusion: The Aid Delivery Process Has Been Largely Donor-Driven
The Fourth Conclusion: Implementing Agents Have Often Reduced the Effectiveness of Aid
The Fifth Conclusion: Donors Have Paid More Attention to the Negotiation Than to the Implementation of Aid
The Sixth Conclusion: There Have Been More Donors Than Recipients
The Seventh Conclusion: Donors Have Been More Inclined Towards Competition Than Coordination
The Eighth Conclusion: States Have Increasingly Aspired to the Status of Donor
The Ninth Conclusion: There Is a Direct Proportion Between the Amount of Aid and the Duration of Transitions
The Tenth (And Overall) Conclusion: Aid Is An Instrument of Power Politics Rather Than of Soft Power
Bibliography
Index
