Count Four

Foreign Aid, Redefined and Diminished

I agree with most of the tone of this editorial on the way the Rice State Department is changing the way we determine how to distribute foreign aid; Ms. Sanchez essentially calls the switch a bad idea for American diplomacy. The one critique I have of it is that she does not ever explicitly state the premise that alleviating poverty and promoting economic development overseas ultimately serves the US national security interest, and that the removal of that aid from developing areas which are not currently areas of security concern may serve to make them a security concern later down the road. The focusing of aid only on immediate hotspots is short sighted, and does not do enough to promote the US’ long-term security.