How US Foreign Aid is Used in Foreign Policy

US foreign aid is an essential part of American foreign policy. The U.S. extends it to developing nations and for military or disaster assistance. The United States has used foreign aid since 1946. With annual expenditures in the billions of dollars, it is also one of the most controversial elements of American foreign policy. Background of American Foreign Aid Western allies learned the lesson of foreign aid after World War I. Defeated Germany received no help restructuring its government and economy after the war. In an unstable political climate, Nazism grew in the 1920s to challenge the Weimar Republic, Germanys legitimate government, and ultimately replace it. Of course, World War II was the result. After World War II, America feared Soviet communism would creep into destabilized, war-torn regions as Nazism had done earlier. To counter that, the United States immediately pumped $12 billion dollars into Europe. Congress then passed the European Recovery Plan (ERP), more commonly known as the Marshall Plan, named after Secretary of State George C. Marshall. The plan, which would distribute another $13 billion over the next five years, was the economic arm of President Harry Trumans plan to combat the spread of communism. The United States continued to use foreign aid throughout the Cold War as a way to keep nations out of the communist Soviet Unions sphere of influence. It has also regularly disbursed humanitarian foreign aid in the wake of disasters. Types of Foreign Aid The United States divides foreign aid into three categories: military and security assistance (25 percent of yearly expenditures), disaster and humanitarian relief (15 percent), and economic development assistance (60 percent). The United States Army Security Assistance Command (USASAC) manages military and security elements of foreign aid. Such aid includes military instruction and training. USASAC also manages the sales of military equipment to eligible foreign nations. According to the USASAC, it now manages 4,000 foreign military sales cases worth an estimated $69 billion. The Office of Foreign Disaster Administration handles disaster and humanitarian aid cases. Disbursements vary annually with the number and nature of global crises. In 2003, United States disaster aid reached a 30-year peak with $3.83 billion in aid. That amount included relief resulting from Americas March 2003 invasion of Iraq. USAID administers economic development aid. Assistance includes infrastructure construction, small-enterprise loans, technical assistance, and budget support for developing nations. Top Foreign Aid Recipients U.S. Census reports for 2008 indicate the top five recipients of American foreign aid that year were: Afghanistan, $8.8 billion ($2.8 billion economic, $6 billion military)Iraq, $7.4 billion ($3.1 billion economic, $4.3 billion military)Israel, $2.4 billion ($44 million economic, $2.3 billion military)Egypt, $1.4 billion ($201 million economic, $1.2 billion military)Russia, $1.2 billion (all of it economic aid) Israel and Egypt have usually topped the recipient list. Americas wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and its efforts to rebuild those areas while countering terrorism have put those countries at the top of the list. Criticism of American Foreign Aid Critics of American foreign aid programs claim that they do little good. They are quick to note that while economic aid is intended for developing countries, Egypt and Israel certainly do not fit that category. Opponents also argue that American foreign aid is not about development, but rather propping up leaders who comply with Americas wishes, regardless of their leadership abilities. They charge that American foreign aid, especially military aid, simply props up third-rate leaders who are willing to follow Americas wishes. Hosni Mubarak, ousted from the Egyptian presidency in February 2011, is an example. He followed through on his predecessor Anwar Sadats normalization of relations with Israel, but he did little good for Egypt. Recipients of foreign military aid have also turned against the United States in the past. Osama bin Laden, who used American aid to fight Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s, is a prime example. Other critics maintain that American foreign aid merely ties truly developing nations to the United States and does not enable them to stand on their own. Rather, they argue, promoting free enterprise within and free trade with those countries would serve them better.

A review of Roediger and McDermott (1995) Study of False...

A review of Roediger and McDermott (1995) The study of creation of false memories has been a topic of interest since the 1930s when Bartlett (1932) conducted the first experiment on the topic. Though the results of this experiment were never replicated, they contributed greatly to research by distinguishing between reproductive and reconstructive memory (Bartlett 1932 as cited in Roediger McDermott, 1995). Reproductive memory refers to accurate production of material from memory and is assumed to be associated with remembering simplified materials (e.g., lists). Reconstructive memory emphasizes the active process of filling in missing elements while remembering and is associated with materials rich in meaning (e.g., stories). Research prior to Deese’s 1959 study saw few account s of false recognition from a list. This created the idea that more coherent materials were needed to create false memories. Deese was interested in determining why some lists gave rise to false recognition when others didn’t. His general conclusion was that lists where the associations went in both backward and forward directions tended to elicit false recall (Deese 1959 as cited in Roediger McDermott, 1995). Deese’s study that used a single trial, free recall paradigm which Roediger and McDermott used to try and replicate his results, which found that people were often accurate in remembering lists after one trial. Roediger and McDermott (1995) examined the false recall and false recognition ofShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of False Memory On Word Association1255 Words   |  6 Pages False Memory Cammie Wires George Mason University False Memory Introduction Multiple studies have been conducted that investigate false memory in humans focusing on word recall, processing and retention interval, and auditory imaging. Roediger and McDermott (1995) suggest that individuals who participated in their study are more likely to recall the critical words and lures if the list of words presented were closely associated to them. Critical lures are the tendency to recall wordsRead MoreProject M2 : False Memory1635 Words   |  7 Pages Project M2: False Memory Literature review. This project is based on false memory and asks the question, â€Å"Will words that are presented visually evoke false recall of an associated word more than if words are presented aurally?† False memory has been defined as, â€Å"A mental experience that is mistakenly taken to be a veridical representation of an event from one’s personal past. Memories can be false in relatively minor ways, believing one last saw the keys in the kitchen when they were in the livingRead MoreCognitive Psychology False Memory Essay2269 Words   |  10 PagesRunning head: False Memory Theoretical and Applied/Practical Perspective of False Memory The human memory is subject to a multitude of errors, including source misattributions, distortion and creation of false memories. In order to do justice to this paper one must first determine what is â€Å"False memory†? False memory is memory for an event that did not occur or distorted memory of actual events (Gleaves, Smith, Butler, Spiegel, 2004). This type of memory has been an area ofRead MoreFalse Memories Of Sexual Abuse2089 Words   |  9 PagesFalse memory is a term for the event of an individual remembering information or events they were not exposed to. Jerwen and Flores (2013) defined it as the creation of a memory about an event that an individual did not experience. They point out, â€Å"although not being able to remember something is a memory problem, ‘remembering’ something that did not happen can be as serious a problem.† The seriousness of this problem is exemplified in the cases of individuals creating false memories of sexual abuseRead MoreEssay on Does schema affect our memory?1326 Words   |  6 Pagesabilities are innate and that includes memory. Memory is tightly connected with learning, which then can be influenced the individuals behavior in the future. In terms of cognition, the psychologist focuses on the way we process information. The information is brought and understand into the mind in various of ways and is then manipulated by placing into a sensory, short term or long term storage and is recalling and retrieved when necessary. Even so, retrieving memory was no longer the process of pickingRead MoreThe reliability of eyewitness testimony has become a popular research topic in applied and social1200 Words   |  5 Pagesapplied and social psychology since Loftus and Palmer’s study in 1974 (see Steblay, 1997; Wright Loftus, 1998; Deffenbacher, Bornstein, Penrod, McGorty, for reviews). Participants viewed videos or slides of traffic accidents (Loftus Palmer, 1974) or a criminal act (Roediger, Jacoby, McDermott, 1996; Cutler, Penrod, Martens, 1987) and afterwards were asked several questions about what they had just seen. The manipulation in studies was that the researchers did not ask the same question to

Marketing Debate Free Essays

Is Consumer Behavior More a Function of a Person’s Age or Generation? MKT 6661 Strategic Marketing Management Troy University Introduction A heavily debated issue between marketers is what drives consumer behavior? There are two noted positions in this debate, one that believes that age differences are the deciding factors of a consumer’s wants and needs and others make the case that cohort and generation effects are better suited to uncover the consumer’s desires. Marketers have a major responsibility to identify and reach out to the marketplace and find out what influences an individual’s purchasing decisions. Rather these decisions can be sorted based on a group of individuals shared experiences or by simply bunching these individuals into their respective generations but a system has to be in place to provide insight to what is the best way to channel into the consumer’s buying methods. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Debate or any similar topic only for you Order Now So what’s all the Fuss About? The question that we are trying to answer is, is consumer behavior more a function of a person’s age or generation? There has been inclusive research on the driving forces of what drives consumer choice. A pattern has been discovered that people who make similar purchases may also share other specific social-economical similarities. This gives way that there is some background to be learned about these purchasing groups. Cohorts, or Aged-Based Marketing, tend to share a significant number of experiences, goals, and values. (Bidwell 2009) The main principle behind a cohort is that individuals make purchasing decisions based on events that they experienced through their lives, such as their childhood, adolescents, early adulthood and so forth. These events, called defining moments, influence attitudes, preferences, values, and buying behaviors, and these attitudes, values, and buying-behavior motivations for each cohort remain virtually the same throughout their lives. (Bidwell 2009) In contrast to cohorts, on the other side of the debate, the method of evaluating consumer behavior by placing consumers in a group of individuals born and living about the same time. This is the practice of multi-generation marketing. Each generation has unique expectations, experiences, lifestyles, values, and demographics that influence their buying behaviors. Multi-Generational marketing has a broader platform in which individual consumers are placed. Some specifics of these two marketing segments can draw some contrast between the two. To use the cohort model most effective there must be a combination of people’s ages and information about their particular life stages. Some examples of different life stages are empty nesters, retirees, young families, and your careerist. (Bidwell 2009) Most consumers’ life stages are fairly predictable so it provides for their purchasing habits to be predictable. There can be contrast amongst different cohorts as well, depending on the unique events that an individual shared with others in the same cohort. According to Charles D. Schewe, a professor of marketing at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and consultant to numerous companies, there are seven American cohorts. The first cohort being the Great Depression cohort, born between the years of 1912 and 1921 and represent approximately seven percent of the U. S. population, secondly is the World War II cohort born between the years of 1922-1927 and represent about five percent of the U. S. population, the third cohort is known as the post WWII cohort, this group was born between the years of 1928-1945 and represent about twenty three percent of the U. S. population, next are the Baby Boomers I and Baby Boomers II cohorts, they represent together about forty three percent of the U. S. population and were born between the years of 1946 to 1964, the sixth cohort are the Generation X’ers who were born between the years of 1966 and 1976 and make up approximately twenty two percent of the U. S. opulation, and lastly there are the N-Gens, born from 1977-1987, and make up twelve percent of the U. S. adult population. ( Bidwell 2009) Though these cohorts span over a number of years they are all linked by a series of events that follow a chronological order. Even though a cohort places consumers in segments based on lifestyles but the time in which these events occurred can have drastic effect on their purchasing choices. Looking at the metrics of generational marketin g on surface can resemble age-based marketing very closely. This is not an intentional consequence to be vague in practice or by definition but help narrow the message down that the marketer is trying to relay. Take a look this table that depicts the six U. S. Generations. Generation| Date of Birth| Number| Age (in 2010)| Pre-Depression| Before 1930| 12 MM| 81 and above| Depression| 1930-1945| 28 MM| 65-80| Baby Boom| 1946-1964| 80 MM| 46-64| Generation X| 1965-1976| 45 MM| 34-45| Generation Y| 1977-1994| 71 MM| 16-33| Generation Z| After 1994| 29 MM| Less than 16| (Marketing to the Generations 2010) Looking at the table, generation analysis and Cohort effects follow a very similar chronological order and demographics but generation analysis is a much broader form of marketing intelligence. At best we have put a group of consumers at the same place at the same time using this method. By knowing the generation the consumer was born it does help the marketer pin point the most effective way to communicate with the consumer taking a macro overlook of the consumer. Based on what generation a consumer was born in gives insight of how techno savvy or financially conservative, education level the consumer received. Conclusion As I really think about the original question and look for the answer it seems to me that these two methods work in tandem with each other. The bigger picture is understanding the holistic approach to getting your message across the consumer. Cohort is a much more defined process, in that it outlays the needs of the consumer at different times in their lives but knowing the generation that the consumer helps to point the marketer in the right direction when extrapolating data from individual. Undoubtedly to me both are instrumental in a effective and efficient marketing information system References Bidwell. 25 March 2009 Cohorts: Age-Based Marketing. http://www. bidwellid. com/resources/white_papers/Bidwell_ID_Cohorts. pdf Williams, K; Page,R 2010 Marketing to the Generations http://www. aabri. com/manuscripts/10575. pdf Kotler, P. , amp; Keller, K. (2012). In K. Keller, amp; P. Kotler 14th ed, Marketing Management How to cite Marketing Debate, Papers