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Plea to Barack on Foreign Aid

Barack Obama has been my candidate of choice from the beginning. I have outlined a few of the reasons I support him. One I didn't mention is the issue of foreign aid. As I discussed earlier, US government's foreign aid as a % of its GDP is one of the lowest for any developed nation. Economic Aid to Developing Countries - The Stats

To make it worse, much of the aid is given to two sources:
  • Military and economic aid to Israel and Egypt to keep some peace in the Middle East
  • Colombia, Peru and Bolivia to fight drug

The tiny bit that is left goes to countries where the US has foreign policy interests. The aid is used for political leverage.

Here is where Barack Obama comes into the picture. He has said that diplomacy and restoration of American image in the world would be the pillars of his foreign policy. One way to improve America's image in the world is to provide more foreign aid, particularly one that is not directly used for political leveraging. Obama promised to increase US government foreign aid from the ~$25 billion now to $50 billion by 2012. NYT
In a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs last April, Mr. Obama proposed doubling foreign aid to a total of $50 billion a year by 2012. In the speech, he also outlined a strategy for ending the war in Iraq.
However, the current economic crisis and the impending $700 billion rescue plan is likely to require cutbacks in some of Obama's promises. Asked what promises he might cut back on, this is what Obama had to say on CBS's Face the Nation

...I think it’s important for us to do those, but I will say that some proposals I’ve made -- for example, I’m a strong supporter of foreign aid.

SCHIEFFER: We really have to go.

OBAMA: We may have to delay that a little bit.

I plea to Senator Obama to do his best to keep this promise because it is important. While the UN is asking developed nations to spend 0.7% of the GDP on foreign aid, the US is lagging at 0.1%. Increasing U.S. foreign aid is definitely a step in the right direction.

The aid could come in many ways. One that would be good for everyone would be the export of green technologies to the poorest nations in the world. China and India can develop and distribute technologies on their own, but there are lots of helpless nations that could benefit from the US's willingness to share these technologies.

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