Foreign aid in the Middle East : in search of peace and democracy

Author(s)

    • Paragi, Beáta

Bibliographic Information

Foreign aid in the Middle East : in search of peace and democracy

Beáta Paragi

I.B. Tauris, 2019

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Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

What do we mean by 'gifts' in International Relations? Can foreign aid be conceptualized as a gift? Most foreign aid transactions are unilateral and financially unreciprocated, yet donors expect to benefit from them.Previous research dealing with foreign aid has analyzed the main donor motives and interests in providing financial support. This book offers an in-depth analysis of the invisible political or social 'exchange' taking place between recipient countries and donors when a grant agreement is signed. Focusing on Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Israel - the main beneficiaries of Western foreign aid - the book uses gift theories and theories of social exchange to show how international social bonds are shaped by foreign aid and in what ways recipient countries are obliged to return the 'gift' they receive. Foreign aid is a means of buying 'stability' or 'democracy' in the region but Beata Paragi is interested here to understand the actual feasibility of Western assistance. Looking at the context of the Arab Spring, the book examines how aid impacts on a recipient country's domestic political events such as war, the quest for self-determination, the struggle against occupation and the fight for dignity. An original contribution to Middle East Studies and International Relations, the research presents an alternative interpretation of foreign aid and show how external funds interact with local developments and realities.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations and Acronyms Contemporary gifts. An introduction Chapter 1. The market, the society and the gift Exchange theories in a nutshell Social exchange Gift exchange The modern gift: from Christmas presents to global solidarity Chapter 2. The contemporary gift Foreign aid in international relations Critique of foreign aid Applying the gift exchange framework to foreign aid relations Societies compared Main features of the international gift: object and relationship in contemporary IR On the diversity of actors in aid implementation The relationship and the objects: contemporary gifts and return gifts The merits of the gift: stabilizing order, substituting wars Gift-giving, reciprocity and indebtedness at the level of theories Reciprocity and indebtedness in IR The role of contemporary gifts: managing order The 'spiritual essence': values, norms and identities conveyed by foreign aid Insights from the philosophy of the gift Impossibility and sacrifice Conditionality in foreign aid relations Chapter 3. Traditional, religious and contemporary gifts in the Middle East Gifts in premodern societies and generosity in the Middle East Features of contemporary foreign aid in the Middle East The origins and background of Western donor presence in the Middle East Arms trade and the politics of exceptionalism Gifts, reciprocity and return gifts - in the contemporary Middle Eastern relations The Arab Spring and the conflicting objectives of foreign aid Battles for external legitimacy: ccompeting for contemporary gifts Legitimacy in the Middle East Contest for external legitimacy in the Middle East and its domestic impacts Chapter 4. In Search of Peace, Stability and Democracy in the Middle East U.S. aid for regional stability and Israeli security EU assistance for regional stability by supporting the peace process European reactions to the Arab Spring The European public opinion behind donor policies Simply saying: The U.S. set the rules, the EU paid the bill Aid for managing order (keeping stability and peace) Aid for (missing) political and economic reforms Aid for supporting politically conscious actors in the civil society Aid for (the lack of) stability. The case of humanitarian assistance Regime survival and public opinion on foreign donors Aid as rent Local public opnion on foreign donors Chapter 5. The (im)possibility of contemporary gifts Returning contemporary foreign gifts: trading threats, trading pains The 'spirit' of contemporary gift and the image of the 'foreign agent' Importing foreign (Western, global or neoliberal) ideas and its price Punishing the foreign agent The (im)possibility of foreign aid: supporting stability vs democratization Conclusion Annex - interview details Bibliography (List of References) Notes

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