The presentation on ethics in IR led to an interesting discussion about the ethics of humanitarian aid. I came away form that discussion frustrated because of the lack of seriousness on the part of western countries towards aid. Many governments that receive aid turn corrupt and take the aid from themselves or sell it for a profit to the people who need it. This angers me because these governments have a responsibility to their people to get the aid to them, not to steal or exploit it. Western countries however, anger me even more because they lack the fortitude to make aid work. Western countries like the US need to take drastic steps to ensure that aid gets to the people that need it. I would like to see something like foreign aid enforced by the military of western nations, not the UN and not nations shy of letting their militaries do their job. For example, the US could deliver aid to another country physically carried out by the Red Cross or UN at set distribution points monitored by US soldiers, flying overhead in Blackhawk helicopters if necessary, to make sure that nothing goes wrong. If government forces try to steal this aid from these distribution points US soldiers would be allowed to engage and use deadly force to stop the stealing and ensure that aid is delivered. There is no point in delivering aid that is not going to be properly delivered or in sending UN peace keepers in blue helmet who are not allowed to fire their weapons even in self-defense. There needs to be a serious commitment to getting the aid delivered even if that means delivering aid at the barrel of a gun. The system of delivering aid that has existed up to now has not worked. I think that if the US is going to get involved in delivering aid to nations in places like Africa it needs to get serious and make sure that the aid it delivers gets used. If that means that the US needs to use the threat of and actual force to make aid count, then so be it. This make seem like an extreme policy but the alternatives are not getting the job done so something drastic, not necessarily my idea, needs to take place to change the system.
1 comment:
I completely agree. In class someone raised the point that in the case of sending aid to Afghanistan after bombing there was no problem sending the aid to the proper recipients. On the other hand there are countless reports of governments taking aid, as you mentioned. Is all aid delivered by the military? If not, isn't it something worth investing in? After all, many people argue that one of the main motivations of aid is trying to trying to set up stable countries to trade with. Granted, Afghanistan didn't have a government to take the aid, but it still seems like it wouldn't take much to properly deliver aid.
Post a Comment