Case 206 - Pakistan in the Bush Years: Foreign Aid and Foreign Influence

Deibel, Terry L.

This two-part case study examines U.S.-Pakistan relations from 1989 to 1993, exploring the strengths and weaknesses of foreign aid as an instrument of American foreign policy. It highlights the tension between employing aid for the development of foreign societies over the long run or as a tool to influence foreign governments for short-term policy purposes; the difficulties of using aid in the latter way for multiple policy goals; and the challenges of democratization in developing countries and U.S. efforts to spread overcome them. The study also explores the impact of international events on domestic politics (and vice versa) in a developing country; nuclear nonproliferation and international narcotics control strategies; the effects of the end of the Cold War on American foreign policy and security commitments; and executive-legislative interaction in U.S. foreign policy.