The Changing Landscape of Aid: Conflict, Natural Disasters and New Donors

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

The global landscape of development aid and disaster relief has changed dramatically over the past decade. Aid delivery has become more challenging as poverty is increasingly concentrated in countries affected by conflict and by disasters of growing frequency and severity, including droughts, floods and storms. In addition, rising powers, especially China, have scaled up their assistance to developing countries, highlighting the competitive and strategic nature of aid. How do international donors and local governments adapt to this new environment and which strategies do they use for allocating aid in conflict and disaster-prone areas? What impact does aid have on power sharing arrangements and local distributive politics in the recipient countries?

To explore these questions, the panel brings together a group of scholars who pursue innovative work on the global dynamics and local impact of contemporary aid, including in the cases of Brazil and Nepal. Collectively, they harness a variety of methods and sources, specifically the analysis of novel national and subnational datasets, qualitative interviews and case studies. The panel contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the politics of aid in the 21st century.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 12: Comparative Politics in Developing Countries

Individual Presentations

• Essential Decisions: Donor Strategies for Managing Risks in Conflict Zones - Michael F. Harsch, New York University Abu Dhabi; Sidak Yntiso, New York University

• Rewarding Resistance? The Political Economy of Post-Conflict Aid Allocations - Marco Nicola Binetti; Martin C. Steinwand, University of Essex

• Disaster Aid and Local Distributive Politics: Drought in Northeast Brazil - Alicia Dailey Cooperman, Princeton University

• Financing for Status: Evidence from Chinese Megaprojects Abroad - Austin Michael Strange, Harvard University

Chair

• Desha Girod Georgetown University

Discussant

• Stephanie J. Rickard London School of Economics