CHANGES IN THE GEOGRAPHIC PATTERN OF WESTERN AID 1966-1990

In the early 1960s, the United States dominated aid-giving to Latin America; the US, the European states and Japan all disbursed aid to the Asian nations; and the European states provided most of the aid to Africa. Since then, three major changes have occurred in the Western aid regime. First, the international coordination of the Western aid programs has increased. Second, the US role as the dominant aid donor has come to an end. Instead, it is the countries of the European Community and Japan that dominate Western aid-giving today. Third, a framework for coordination of the aid programs within the EC has emerged. Although these changes fundamentally have altered the geographic distribution of aid from the 1960s, they do not conclusively point to a development toward a tripolar panregional division among the Western donors.