A Fragile Balance: Re-examining the History of Foreign Aid, Security and Diplomacy

by Louis A. Picard, Terry F. Buss

* Broad historical narrative of foreign aid, international security and diplomacy
* Emphasizes human development rather than economic development

Both the successes and the failures of foreign aid have drawn many assumptions into stark the assumption that aid is reaching the bottom end of the socio-economic ladder, that those most capable of forming policy are in the Western academy, that decisions about where aid should go can be separated from culture and history. Picard and Buss suggest that continuing to discuss aid’s problems using tired ideas won’t work. They take an unconventional approach by placing aid in the context of larger security and foreign policy goals and by extending the history of aid prior to WWII and into the 18th century.

Simplifying the complex world of foreign aid with all its diversity and meanings, the book serves as a contemporary introduction to a surprisingly old idea. A Fragile Balance adopts both policy and normative perspectives, allowing readers to really get around the issues. It reveals the problems that remain and importantly, what can be done to fix the system. This text will serve as an invaluable introduction to undergraduate and graduate students studying foreign policy, security studies and economic development, but will also appeal to practitioners who want a fresh view of the so-called "three Ds" of diplomacy, defense and development.

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Professor Louis A. Picard is the Director of the Ford Institute for Human Security at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also the former Associate Dean (1988-1992) and Acting Dean (1989-1990) of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh and Director of the International Development Division of the Graduate school of Public and International Affairs of the University of Pittsburgh. He served as President of Public Administration Service. (2002-2005). His research and consulting specializations include international development, governance, development management, local government, civil society and human resource development. His primary area of interest is Africa and he has had extensive fieldwork in Southern Africa including three years in South Africa. He has worked in the Anglophone East and West Africa, including the Horn, Francophone West Africa and North Africa. He also has research interests and experience in Central America and the Caribbean, South Asia and in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia.

He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development (A.I.D.), the World Bank, the U.S. Information Agency (U.S.I.A.), UNDP, and U.S. Department of State. He is an Associate Member of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) Standing Panel on Social Equity in Governance and a member of the NAPA Africa Working Group, a joint initiative of the Social Equity Panel and the International Standing Panel. He has worked for the Academy for Educational Development, Associates for Rural Development, Management Systems International, TransCentury, Creative Associates and Development Alternatives Inc. He has worked as teacher, researcher and consultant in Botswana, Costa Rica, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Guinea-Conakry, Mexico, Morocco, Lesotho, Mozambique, Pakistan, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Dr. Picard has carried out research on regional and district administration in Tanzania, developed the training system for local government in Botswana, and for the last ten years has been working on issues of liberalism, governance and local governance and development management on South Africa. From 1991-1994 Dr. Picard served as a UNDP and World Bank advisor on regional and local government and on public sector capacity building in both Ethiopia and Eritrea. He has worked in more than 46 countries, 38 of which are in Africa and the Middle East. His major academic research for the last several years has been on the political transformation in South Africa. He has also carried out research on U.S. foreign aid, security and diplomacy. He is the author or editor of 11 books more than forty articles and book chapters and numerous reports.