Geopolitics and Shifts in Development Aid Policies: The Effects on Poverty in Nepal

Abstract

Current debates on global poverty reduction have renewed scholarly interest in foreign aid. As a result of recent concerns over global security, donors and aid agencies have redirected aid funding to countries of strategic political interest. To comply with the political agendas of the North, major aid donors (such as USAID, CIDA, and the EU) have shifted their priorities from humanitarianism and sustainable development to freedom and international security. Such shifts undermine interventions critical to easing widening socioeconomic disparities, and poor countries like Nepal have experienced a significant decline in international development aid. This paper explores the implications of current aid policy on the division between Northern and Southern countries. The use of a multidisciplinary approach in the analysis of development aid policies is beneficial for understanding the complexities and tensions involved in the provision and distribution of development aid.