Aid and Influence: Patronage, Power and Politics, Browne 9780367681555 PB..

Taylor & Francis

Aid and InfluencePatronage, Power and Politics\nAuthor(s): Stephen Browne\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: Routledge\nISBN-13: 9780367681555, 978-0367681555\nSynopsis\nThis book turns the argument about aid effectiveness on its head. Since development assistance is inherently self-interested, a source of soft power, political manipulation and commercial opportunity, its real effectiveness could arguably be judged by the strength of donor influence and not by development impact. Its subjective nature means that its impact on development is often weak, mainly short-term and confined to limited and specific contexts.\n\nAid as influence was prevalent during the Cold War era. The connection is equally strong in this centurys newly bipolar world in which the contest is between western donors led by the United States, and China which is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on infrastructure as a means of influence in the global South. In.