International aid has always had its critics. But at a time when desperate poverty is increasing and represents a growing threat to global security, the influence of the anti-aid lobby is at an all-time high. Using the post-Cold War "peace dividend" to alleviate misery would go a long way in averting crises now gobbling up increasing shares of "development" money. The crisis in international aid is a culmination of a number of factors: the triumph of economic ideologies extolling the virtues of the free market, budgetary pressures and persistent mass unemployment in the industrialized countries, and a deepening sense of public skepticism about the effectiveness of development cooperation.
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