Foreign aid can benefit United States

The United States should be doing more to help end global poverty.

Foreign aid is rarely talked about in the context of creating jobs. With small investments into impoverished regions, the United States can help improve the lives of many and create new markets for trade. Germany and South Korea once received foreign aid from the United States, and now they are reliable trade partners.

Beyond economic incentives, ending poverty is in the best interest of United State security. Countries with unstable economic and political systems provide havens for extremist groups. After the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in 1980, no international aid was brought to rebuild the war-torn region. Shortly after, al-Qaida took control and planned the 9/11 attacks.

The Iraq war cost the United States almost $2 trillion. Considering economists estimate $30 billion would be sufficient to end hunger globally, the United States and other developed nations can and should make poverty eradication a priority.

[Kevin Meyers, Wisconsin State Journal]

This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation by Grant Montgomery.