Background:
John Wesley is a mission director at perhaps one of the largest international aid mission in the world; United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The organization provides economic development as well as humanitarian assistance around in the world with respect to United States’ foreign policy aims. Despite of USAID’s great accomplishments, Wesley argues that Senator Helms (who was one of the Republican senators at that time), wants to “kill foreign aid”.
Side A:
There had been a debate going on in Washington regarding the outcomes and achievements of USAID, and whether the programme is efficient enough. Wesley argues that the debate took a pragmatic turn in the sense that the organization is meant to create opportunity for the US in the worldwide market and thus Senator Helms announced the plans of reorganizing the executive branch and perhaps even the abolishment USAID. Furthermore, Senator Helms allegedly believes that foreign aid must be pursued through private institutions such as charities, whereby Wesley strongly diasagrees.
Wesley admires the Egyptian ex-president; Anwar al-Sādāt for his achievements in signing a peace treat between Israel and Egypt, but also his decision to take upon the challenge of developing Egyptian society under a more Western culture. Wesley says has been in Egypt for 20 years, and although the policy making has been slow, believes there has been progress in Eyptian society and without Sādāt’s input, the likelihood of war would have been much greater. Without the foreign aid programmes, there would have been 80 million more people in Egypt according to Wesley. This shows the utter success of the organization, although Helms argues the programmes do not work. Wesley challenges the Senator and asks him to show him where these programmes have no succeeded. He suggests that if USAID had not been actively working in Egypt, the situation would have been much worse than it is now. A foreign aid programme can only bring a country up to a certain level, the rest is needed from the naton’s economic policy framework by creatin more jobs and such. If this is not done, then there is nothing more the organizations can do. Wesley believes unemployment is the realest challenge to Egypt, whereby USAID has done a great deal to create the preconditions for more rapid growth and wealth for the Egyptian government, but the government needs to do more private investment.
