How and why is the provision of foreign aid perfceived of as an Essay

How and why is the provision of foreign aid perfceived of as an essential part of OECD states' foreign policies - Essay Example This paper examines the question of how and why foreign aid is perceived as an essential part of OECD states' foreign policy. In doing this, the paper will examine the position of international aid in the global society. This will be done by investigating the background of foreign aid and cross-border donor activities. The research will identify the challenges in providing development in poor nations and the issues with using force. From these analyses, the paper will move on to look at new trends in aid amongst OECD nations and their motivations for this. Genuine Disparities and White Man's Burden â€Å"White Man's Burden† is a poem by an English poet, Rudyard Kipling. It was published in an American newspaper in 1899 and referred to the imperial aspirations by the United States towards the Philippines Islands (Margolis, 2009). The poem described the burden of the White race to assist and help the poor and less developed nations in the world around that time to build the prop er infrastructure and live a live that was of the best merit for the citizens. At the time White Man's Burden was written, most nations around the world were highly backward. Some of them maintained social and cultural systems that barely allowed them to overcome nature and survive. Europe and other Eurocentric nations ruled by persons of European origins like the United States, Canada, Australia and the Cape Colony of South Africa were absolutely advanced. These nations had the rightful political structures that were steeped in the rule of law, democracy and the separation of power. The nations had formal educational structures that complemented the concept of work. Through this, people were equipped with skills in structured educational systems and were presented into the labour force to work and earn remuneration in a formal manner. However, most nations, particularly those in the southern hemisphere had structures that had faced serious setbacks. On a basic analysis, two importa nt reasons can be used to explain this. First of all, most of these communities in Africa, Asia and South America was highly isolated from the rest of the world. And due to that, they could not share ideas with other nations. Secondly, these nations included persons with major diversity differences that made it impossible for such nations to unite on the basis of a common language, common institutions in order to create the rightful environment for democracy and nation-building. On the contrary, Europe had a few languages that formed the basis for the cohesion of huge nations. Also, the role of the Church as a unifying institution created the right framework for Europe to build modern nations (Viault, 1990). So at the turn of the 20th Century, Europe and persons of European origin were way ahead of other nations around the world. The poem, White Man's Burden signified the need for Europeans to spread the institutional structures and systems to developing countries and in the case of the 1899 publication, it was meant to show Americans the need to take up a colonial obligation in the Philippines. The poem showed that imperialism was not only about exploiting poorer nations but also, sharing development and promoting better livelihoods in less developed nations in Africa, Asia and South America (Margolis, 2009). Today, the White Man's Burden continues to subsists. Although most nations in the developed world are overwhelmingly multicultural, there is the need for