Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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San Francisco Examiner - June 9, 2005
An array of international newspaper editorials and even British newsweekly The Economist, normally a moderate voice, assessed U.S. efforts harshly: "The American government is notoriously stingy with its foreign aid, giving just 0.2 [percent] of GDP to poor countries every year. Even when Americans' ample private donations are added in, America still falls near the bottom of the rich-nation pack in generosity to those abroad," The Economist wrote. According to figures from the federal government, the U.S. Gross Domestic Product was roughly $11.7 trillion in 2004.
To say that Africa and other developing regions of the world could use more money is one thing, and so, perhaps, is advocating additional U.S. foreign aid ù this country certainly has the means to be generous. But to imply that the United States is miserly is something else entirely. According to figures from the international Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, U.S. "official development assistance" totaled $19 billion in 2004, a 14.1 percent increase over the previous year and an amount that far outstrips the contribution of any other nation in the world. The next-largest contributor of 22 nations tracked by the OECD, Japan, provided less than half that amount. Japan's GDP in 2004 was about $3.7 trillion.
Doubters of U.S. generosity, many of them from Europe, should ask themselves: Who rebuilt Europe after the devastation of World War II? Who fed the people of a ruined continent, keeping hunger at bay once fascism was ejected?
The United States did. Considering the pains the United States took to help its friends in Europe regain their feet after that war, and considering the long history of imperialist Europe colonizing Africa to drain the continent of human and natural resources, modern-day complaints about U.S. contributions are misdirected.
Some of these nations point out that they provide a lot of aid to Africa, as they should. Europe has a clear obligation to extend a hand to Africa, pulling its nations up into modernity and prosperity.
While criticism that the United States is stingy is somewhat misplaced given the sheer number of dollars our country provides, the need in Africa and in developing nations throughout the world is extensive. More U.S. aid, particularly if provided in countries with reliable, stable governments, would do a great deal of good to prevent the death and suffering caused by diseases such as AIDS and by hunger. This nation has no reason to hide from its record of assisting other nations, but it is well within our reach to do much more. We should.
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