The Effects of War and Peace on Foreign Aid

The Effects of War and Peace on Foreign Aid

Ed M. Rosado

Strayer University

Professor Dr. Terry Lunsford

 SOC 300 – Sociology of Developing Countries

1 November 2015

The Effects of War and Peace on Foreign Aid

Iraq is a developing country that has been at war for over ten years. They have received aid from the United States and other countries. Developing countries can sometimes benefit from the foreign aid, but as a benefit can also be a burden. I think any country can benefit from any assistance especially in a time of war. The problem is, does the country’s government use the aid for the right programs and issues.

Iraq has received hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid over the years since the war started in 2003. Due to the war in Iraq the country’s capital of Baghdad has been destroyed and in the entire country. This has had an impact on the local and country’s economy. Local business have closed and not been able to re-open due to lack of financial assistance. After being deployed in Iraq, I spoke with local Iraqis and asked them if they were happy the United States invaded Iraq and took Saddam Hussein out of power. Most of the people I talk to that were business owners were happy. It was not a happy decision because some of the bombing and actual soldier contact made with Hussein’s army destroyed their businesses. They were willing to take that risk and start over just to get a different type of leader and government. Sometimes people are willing to go to war to get their countries government and financial situation better.

Therefore, Iraq when through an international war to assist the country to improve. International war has many negatives and positives to the end solution. At the beginning of the war in 2003 Iraq’s economy took a big hit. There was no flow of money due to people not spending money because of being afraid of coming out to the streets. Therefore, will put the country’s economy on hold because there is no cash flow going on. Eventually in a country like Iraq people decided to leave the country and go to refugee camps in neighbor countries. Some of the aids would not go to the actual country but the refugee camps. “In July 2014, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that over 1.9 million Iraqis were displaced from their homes.” ("Iraqi Refugees | Costs of War," 2015). Most of the refugees are the people that work, make money, and spend the money in the economy. If there is no money to spend the economy will suffer.

On the other side of the war is the positive side. When the U.S invaded Iraq and took Saddam Hussein and his regime down it was time for a change. It meant a new government infrastructure and new leaders. Due to the new infrastructure it meant different religion leaders can run for government political positions. Before the war there no elections or people were afraid to go and vote. “Over the past nine years, Iraq has conducted eight free and fair elections at the national and provincial levels and continues to work to improve the delivery of essential services to its people.” ("Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance | U.S. Agency for International Development," 2015). Having a new government and leaders is a new path for the country’s infrastructure to improve.