Comparing Donor Geopolitical Competition in Latin America and Africa

• In Event: The Impact of Geopolitics

Abstract

Despite fast increasing flows globally, and from emerging donors such as China, international aid (ODA) has had limited impact on improving developmental outcomes and lived experiences in the Global South. Qualitative research can help supplement limited data availability on ODA effectiveness by offering a grounded explanation as to why donors’ ODA appear to respond to that of other donors and the impact of emerging donors on recipient nations compared to the fanaticism often exhibited by journalists and politicians in the Global North. The majority of qualitative research to date has concentrated on ODA competition and the impacts on recipient nations in sub-Saharan Africa, with little consensus on whether donor competition is beneficial for recipient nations caught in its crossfire, with the outcome appearing to differ between recipients without any clearly discernible pattern. As such, this study presents the first qualitative study on donor competition and the impacts of emerging donor ODA in Latin America. This study analyses 25 interviews conducted in Costa Rica, Argentina and Panama to conclude that donor competition is rife, tangible, and impactful, but that Latin America is unable to take advantage of this competition to leverage better developmental outcomes. Such a comparison between geopolitical competition in Africa and Latin America has important policy implications and helps to reorient research towards the Global South.

Author

• Daniel Benson, King's College London