Foreign aid is distinctly intermestic: it is shaped just as much by domestic politics and institutions as it is by complex international dynamics. Although foreign aid and development assistance are key pillars of the international humanitarian regime, an element of securitization has permeated the aid policies of key donor states. Securitization, in this sense, involves structuring an aid policy and/or disbursing aid in accordance with security interests rather than in favor of humanitarian or development concerns. A securitized aid policy can be both discursive and tangible. In the former, security frames shape agency understandings of humanitarian issues, while in the latter, aid is disbursed to realize security objectives. This project set out to answer three key research questions. What factors have contributed to the securitization of foreign aid in the post-Cold War era? How have donor state institutional identities and structures shaped approaches to aid disbursement in a securitized environment? How will the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic influence the degree of securitization in major donor states’ aid policies? Approaching the subject from an institutional perspective, this project explores how the evolution of aid agencies and the resulting path dependence has created varying degrees and types of securitization in five key donor states: the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, and Sweden. Through primarily qualitative case study analysis, this project uncovered a number of antecedents to a securitized aid policy, including institutional autonomy, insulation from political interests, receptiveness to public opinion, and path dependence through bureaucratization. Drawing from these conclusions, this project determined that the COVID-19 pandemic will cement or amplify existing predispositions toward securitization or humanitarianism in key donor states’ aid policies. There is great potential for future quantitative and qualitative research into the subject of securitized aid policies, particularly as aid agencies respond to COVID-19.
Author: Oliver Borchers-Williams
Faculty Advisor: Erica Edwards, Political Science
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