Comparison of the Scope and Effectiveness of Soviet and United States Foreign Economic Aid Programs

Of the three billion people who presently inhabit the world, about one-third live under communist rule, one-sixth constitute the population of free industrial lands, and the rest, which add up to one-half of the whole live in the poorer, less developed countries, most of which politically are considered to be “uncommitted.” These uncommitted countries, which like to be referred to as the “non-aligned group” and hope to develop one day into a third force, for all the purpose of international politics could be considered as “contested” areas. In one way or another they are trying to achieve at least a part of what the developed world has in the way of progress and development. In order to obtain rapid results they are willing to borrow from the East or West any idea, institution, or financial assistance that they fell will aid their country. The study began in the spring of 1963, and in the summer of that year the author made extensive inquiries in most of the embassies of the countries receiving aid from the East and West, concerning the political and economic problems associated with American and Bloc assistance. The whole study is divided into three parts. Part one is historical study of foreign aid programs. Part two is the study of the nature of the important aspects of the two foreign aid programs in the Post World War Two period with an emphasis on ideological complication. Part three is an attempt to develop a method of statistical analysis that could be used in tracing and evaluating the different policies followed by a foreign aid program dealing with large numbers of recipient countries The conclusion in addition to presenting the results of the whole paper gives some additional insight into problems related to foreign aid and some opportunities for further research in this field