Research Symposium

BIO

Catarina Cereja is a second-year student pursuing a dual degree in International Affairs and Political Science at Florida State University. Raised in São Paulo, Brazil, and New York City, USA she now studies in Tallahassee where she hopes to graduate and pursue a career as a foreign service officer. Her interests primarily focus on international relations, the concept of global citizenship, and intercultural interactions. She is currently involved in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, the Global Scholars Program, and the Honors Program at FSU.

Buying and Selling Foreign Aid: Donor Motivations and Public Perceptions of Foreign Aid

Abstract

How does an aid-for-policy deal with one donor nation impact another donor nation’s ability to make an aid-for-policy deal with the same recipient state? Previous research has analyzed the behavior and decision-making of recipient states when aid is being provided by a single donor nation. However, this approach fails to account for all the other countries that are simultaneously giving aid to the recipient country.  This paper argues that the behavior of recipient nations is influenced by 1) how much aid a recipient country receives from donor nations and 2) how many donor nations give the recipient country foreign aid. Through the analysis of foreign aid as a network, this research tests if a nation’s position in the foreign aid network affects the amount of foreign aid that is required to buy a state’s vote on the UN Security Council while said state serves as a non-permanent member.   

Keywords: International Affairs, Political Science, United Nations, Foreign Aid