Against Aid: A History of Opposition to U.s. Foreign Aid Spending

Against Aid presents a complex and diverse history of opposition to US foreign aid spending, explaining why critics challenged aid and how they had a significant impact on US foreign policy.

Foreign aid was an integral part of US foreign policy during the Cold War. US leaders hoped aid spending could modernize other societies, create steadfast allies, and promote global stability, but there was always considerable opposition. Jeffrey F. Taffet skillfully examines aid’s opponents and shows how they questioned the assumptions that the United States needed to be globally engaged. He argues that aid’s opponents forced changes in US aid programs that dramatically reduced overall spending and limited support for dictatorships. Taffet also makes a larger argument, that in fighting aid, opponents were challenging essential views about the nation and its global role that transcended debates about how much to spend. They were arguing about the appropriate use of national power and the essence of the nation’s purpose.

This book is essential reading for courses in American politics, international studies, and history of American foreign policy. Students will benefit from the broad, chronological scope and accessible narrative of the text.

Jeffrey F. Taffet is Professor of History at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. He is the author of Foreign Aid as Foreign Policy: The Alliance for Progress in Latin America (Routledge 2007) and The United States and Latin America: A History with Documents (Routledge 2017, with Dustin Walcher).