International Development and Foreign Aid System

Some globalization theorists consider that inequality moves in cycles, affected by war, disease, technology advancements (or disruptions), education, and redistribution. The recent surge of inequality has been brought about by a Technology revolution, just as the Industrial Revolution 150 years ago drove inequality up among nations and within nations. While some nations have become progressively competitive in the globalization arena (China, India, Brazil, Russia, and others), many countries in the world have fallen behind. They cannot enjoy the alleged benefits of globalization. They are commonly referred to as the “losers of globalization”. Yet, economists believe that the gap between the winners and losers of globalization might be bridged with the right strategies and time.

Post-colonialism, however, argues that poverty and inequality in the world are cemented on a binary representation of the “other” by Western policymakers who are consciously or unconsciously deeply affected by biases. These biases have existed for the last five centuries and underlie how capital and resources are distributed and flow around the world. As a result, economic, social, and political globalization will only benefit some countries until we readdress the current characterization of global poverty from a Western perspective and question current global class relations.

Marked by the zeitgeist post-1945, a global system of aid to development was institutionalized. Today this system moves trillions of dollars and tries to bring development to the “losers of globalization”. Despite the good intentions that move the global aid industry, there are many criticisms of its efficiency, its capacity to bring real development, and the damage it has provoked in some countries. One of the strongest accusations is that the current aid system reproduces post-colonialist narratives portraying developing countries as primitive, hyper-masculine, aggressive, childlike, immature, undereducated, etc., condemning these countries and their people to padlocking victimization.

Taking the above ideas, lectures, weekly readings, and discussion sections, in no more than 300 words, please answer:

What are the three most positive and three most negative aspects of the international development and foreign aid system in a globalized world?

Should we dismantle the whole system or continue working with it?