Foreign Assistance and the New International Economic Order

Foreign assistance has been an integral part of the existing international economic order. It was the major link sustaining a tenuous relationship between the dominant economic forces moving towards an unprecedented affluence and the large periphery of poverty-ridden economies of the developing world. It served the function which private or public charity performs in traditional societies. It tended to delay the demand for ensuring a fair and dignified share to the developing countries in the material gains of human progress. The progress of mankind in harnessing world’s natural resources and in the application of science to productive processes has so far benefited a small part of the world population though it has a great potential for increasing prosperity on a global scale. International community has not yet acquired a global perspective in determining its strategy for dealing with economic issues.