Books

The securitization of foreign aid

Brown, Stephen / Jörn Grävingholt (eds.)
Books (2016)

(Rethinking International Development Series), Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

ISBN: 978-1-137-56881-6
Information

Since the advent of 'new wars' and transnational terrorism after the Cold War, security concerns have increasingly influenced foreign aid: how Western countries give aid, to whom and why. With contributions from experts in the field, this book examines the impact of security issues on six of the world's largest aid donors, as well as on key crosscutting issues such as gender equality and climate change. Each chapter in this volume indicates the pervasiveness of securitization, though to varying degrees. In some cases, securitization does not appear problematic, while others suggest that security considerations have perverted the fundamental purpose of aid, which is to fight poverty and inequality, and have reoriented it towards pure donor self-interest. The conclusion provides recommendations that could help limit the extent of securitization for the benefit of poor and vulnerable people and prevent aid's inefficient redirection to less benevolent, short-term goals.