U.S. Foreign Aid to East and South Asia: Selected Recipients

Abstract

This report analyzes annual budget justifications and legislation for foreign operations appropriations and discusses U.S. foreign aid trends, programs, and restrictions in 16 East Asian and South Asian countries. It does not cover aid to Pacific Island nations, North Korea, and Afghanistan. Country tables do not include assistance from U.S. State Department programs funded outside the foreign operations budget, such as educational and cultural exchange programs, and assistance from other departments and agencies. Since the war on terrorism began in 2001 and the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) and Global HIV/AIDS Initiative (GHAI) were launched in 2004, the United States has increased foreign aid spending dramatically in some regions, including East and South Asia. The United States has raised military, economic, and development assistance primarily for counterterrorism objectives in the East Asia- Pacific (EAP) and South Asia regions, with Pakistan, India, the Philippines, and Indonesia receiving the bulk of the increases. In 2007, the Bush Administration restructured U.S. foreign aid programs to better serve the goal of transformational development, which places greater emphasis on U.S. security and democracy building as the chief goals of foreign aid. In the past decade, the United States government has restricted foreign assistance to many countries in East and South Asia in order to encourage democracy and respect for human rights. Some sanctions have been waived or lifted. The Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008 (P.L. 110-161) placed human rights conditions upon portions of the U.S. military assistance grants to Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Since 2003, President Bush has annually exercised the waiver authority on coup-related sanctions against Pakistan. In 2005, the United States government resumed full military assistance to Indonesia, based upon the satisfaction of legislative conditions and national security grounds.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 08, 2008
Accession Number
ADA490088

Entities

People

  • Thomas Lum

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Congress
  • Counterterrorism
  • Department Of State
  • Foreign Aid
  • Foreign Relations
  • Governments
  • Health Services
  • Humanitarian Assistance
  • Law
  • Military Education
  • National Governments
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Political Systems
  • South Asia
  • Terrorists
  • United States Government

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Public Financial Management and Budgeting