After reading all the scholastic pieces and listening to
Prof. Jacksons lesson, I was thinking about the 2 by 2 matrix and its
implications on real policy decisions within the international system.
One topic that came to mind is foreign aid. Why do
countries give foreign aid? And under what category would that fall? Many
countries do have official development assistance programs, but I wonder
whether all of them integrated these programs for the same purpose. What is the
reason for giving foreign aid? Are people acting based on interest or ideas,
so basically is the rational calculation behind giving aid or is it simply the
right thing to do. Maybe a mix of both. Last week we presented our power point
presentations and many times we questioned the motives or intentions of these
organizations. This just shows, that it is not quite simple to determine
whether they serve the purpose of saving countries or whether there is a strategic
goal behind giving foreign aid. I would think that every country has their own
objective and that many have a different purpose.
Heiti, what an interesting application of the readings! I agree with your assessment that foreign aid is a tough one to figure out, in terms of "interest" vs "ideas." I think that part of the problem is that the two terms are so closely interlinked. After all, even if the choice to give aid, or have a foreign aid program, is determined to be an "interest" and rationally thought out, don't ideas come into the mix behind the rationalizations?
ReplyDeleteZoe, thanks for your comment. I absolutely agree with you. I also think that the rational is fixed and the ideas are blossoming from that.
ReplyDeleteYou could think about foreign aid as well as the "social fact" and then analyze it from either perspective. That would be another way of approaching interests v. ideas.
ReplyDelete