Unintended Effects: Backlash to aid and undermining social contracts

There is a growing resentment toward Western aid in recipient countries. There are many possible reasons why: a history of double agendas from donors, creating dependencies; a strong desire for self-determination; an increasingly multipolar world – the list goes on. It’s about time to discuss the unexpected outcomes of aid that can lead to the backlash or undermining of the social contract in recipient countries. We discuss this with our guest Dirk-Jan Koch , Chief Science Officer at the Dutch MFA who wrote the upcoming book ‘ Foreign Aid and its Unintended Consequences’ . Our other guest, Haley J. Swedlund , Associate Professor, Radboud University, did research on how aid can distort in-country priorities, but can also be used in nationalist politicians’ anti-Western propaganda. Click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more information about the Fragile Truths Podcast. To get in touch with Dirk-Jan Koch, you can follow him on ⁠⁠LinkedIn ⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Twitter , or check out his website here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To follow the work of Haley J. Swedlund, you can follow her on LinkedIn or Twitter , or check out her website here . Supplemental reading: ⁠⁠⁠ Click here ⁠⁠⁠ for Dirk-Jan Koch's new book "Foreign Aid and its Unintended Consequences" Click here for Haley J. Swedlund's report "Power Dynamics in Foreign Aid" Send a short voice note (~30 sec.) via WhatsApp to +31686837137 and mention a fragile truth or assumption in your sector that you'd like to debunk and what alternatives you might propose. Who knows, you might be featured in our next episode!* Are you on Twitter? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Unintended Effects: Backlash to aid and undermining social contracts is an episode from Fragile Truths by Knowledge Platform Security & Rule of Law.

This episode is 00:29:02 long.

This episode was published on Sep 12, 2023.

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