Aid for Elites
Building Partner Nations and Ending Poverty through Human Capital

Foreign aid can be made much more effective by shifting emphasis from poverty alleviation to leadership cultivation and cultural transformation.

Mark Moyar (Author)

9781107565012, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 7 March 2016

304 pages
22.7 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.38 kg

'In Aid for Elites Mark Moyar makes a brilliantly argued and compelling case for reviving efforts to invest in human capital as a cornerstone in the development of nations. He analyzes how human capital is the make or break - and often ignored - component in establishing and maintaining functioning institutions. He explains the missteps and faulty logic that saw the US foreign and development policy establishment ditch their large scale programs investing in people in the 1950s and 60s - in favor of an overemphasis on primary education and over reliance on expensive, foreign technical assistance. Re-establishing initiatives in training and education - with necessary adaptations - could present a far cheaper and more effective way than the current set of practices to promote security, rule of law and development. Policy makers and students of security and development alike would be wise to give this book and its recommendations serious attention.' Clare Lockhart, Institute for State Effectiveness, Washington, DC

Current foreign aid programs are failing because they are based upon flawed assumptions about how countries develop. They attempt to achieve development without first achieving good governance and security, which are essential prerequisites for sustainable development. In focusing on the poorer members of society, they neglect the elites upon whose leadership the quality of governance and security depends. By downplaying the relevance of cultural factors to development, they avoid altering cultural characteristics that account for most of the weaknesses of elites in poor nations. Drawing on a wealth of examples from around the world, the author shows that foreign aid can be made much more effective by focusing it on human capital development. Training, education, and other forms of assistance can confer both skills and cultural attributes on current and future leaders, especially those responsible for security and governance.

1. Pathways to development
2. How governments work
3. Civilization
4. Human capital development
5. Human capital and national security
6. Training
7. Militarization
8. Education in the third world
9. Education in the United States
10. Support
11. Measurement
12. Conclusion: a new foreign assistance strategy.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS]