Abstract
Pakistan is one of the countries which have been economically well aided by the US for a long time. A survey conducted in 2012 by Pew Research Center’s on the Pakistani people’s attitude towards the US, reveals that majority of the Pakistanis have antipathies against US. This research aimed to explore the opinions of Pakistani educated youth about the significance of US economic aid for Pakistan and the extent of their likeness for the residents of US and its policies towards region, specifically towards Pakistan especially after the incidence of 9/11. The data was collected with the help of a structured questionnaire by interviewing 300 university students over 18 years of age from various public and private sector universities in Karachi. This research shows that most of the respondents of the survey answered the US economic aid to their country is significant and helpful, differently from the result of the above Pew Research Center’s 2012 survey. Furthermore, half of them showed their likeness towards people of US and their policies to support Pakistan in alleviating poverty and for the economic development of their country. This situation shows that the young and well educated generation has more positive attitudes towards the US than the general population in Pakistan. Nonetheless, more than half of the respondents considered the reason the US has increased its economic aid to their country since 9/11 is not for Pakistan but for its engagement in ‘counter-terrorism in Afghanistan’. The study concludes the signs of correlation between the US aid to Pakistan and likeness of Pakistani youth towards the people of US. This result has the important implication on the future relationship between US and Pakistan. DOI : 10.7176/DCS/9-4-11 Publication date : April 30 th 2019
Highlights
In the words of Zinkin (1978, pp 22), “Aid is charity, if it is not charity, it is not aid”
This study shows inconsistent results with the Pew Research Center’s 2012 survey on the evaluation of the US aid to Pakistan, showing the changing behaviour of the youth over the last six years and is expected to develop improved relationship between Pakistan and America
Little more than one tenths of the students in Pew Research Center thought that the USA economic aid to their country is not important
Summary
In the words of Zinkin (1978, pp 22), “Aid is charity, if it is not charity, it is not aid”. Another quote, “foreign aid has become one of the America’s most important techniques of statecraft” (see Baldwin, 1966, pp 66). There have been general public antipathies against the USA among the countries which have been taking the aids from it. This research tries to show whether the educated youth generally have the positive or negative feelings toward the US aids to their country especially since 9/11 when the US has sharply increased its economic and military aid to Pakistan. This research is aimed to investigate: i) the significance of the USA economic aid for Pakistan as perceived by the educated youth; ii) the correlation between USA economic aid and attitude of the youth towards it; iii) the correlation between USA economic aid and attitude of young students toward people of US, the policies and its preference as a country; iv) the implications of Pakistani educated youth’ attitude on Pakistan and US relations
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