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Foreign Aid and the American Interest
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20488 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
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5 / 1992 |
1,363 Words |
| Author
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Richard Bissell
Richard Bissell is assistant administrator for research and
development with the U.S. Agency for International
Development |
This election year, as Congress begins hearings on the U.S. foreign assistance program, calls for "America First" are increasing. The isolationist chorus is a puzzling phenomenon because it comes at a time of great success for U.S. foreign policy. Our worldwide engagement during the past four decades has resulted in the global ascendance of American political and economic principles. What folly it would be for our nation to turn away from the international community now, in an atmosphere of lessened world tension--to say nothing of vindication--as the whole world looks to the United States for leadership.
Today's world is one where nations are increasingly--and irreversibly--bound together, a truly global village encircled by telephone lines and videotapes, fax machines and satellites; where once-rigid boundaries have faded and action by one nation produces consequences influencing many other nations.
Certainly, the U.S. foreign economic assistance program was part of the Cold War world. It was an instrument, sometimes as effective as arms, in confronting and containing communism in the main streets and remote corners of the world.
Now that communism has been nearly extinguished and the importance of political and ideological concerns begins to recede, a question persists in this post-Cold War world: What constitutes "American interests" and how do they join those of the developing world? The answer is twofold.
Why Foreign Aid?
First, foreign aid remains an extension of the American character; we are a compassionate people who find it morally indefensible to accept poverty, sickness, and unfulfilled human potential. In responding to natural and man-made disasters, U.S. assistance--yes, our tax dollars--has saved the lives of millions of children, promoted freedom, and prevented tens of millions of people from starving to death. America's generosity toward fellow nations is quite simply unprecedented in the history of the world. At the same time, that "generous" foreign assistance effort presently constitutes less than one-half of 1 percent of the federal budget.
Second, the transformation in the economic balance of power among nations can be considered the chief national security concern. Our nation's overall economic health is the No. 1 issue. Foreign aid is a springboard allowing Americans, American ideas, and American products to
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