The Price of Aid: The Economic Cold War in India, by David C. Engerman

In 바카라사이트 so-deemed ¡°developed¡± world ¨C a term that largely, although not exclusively, refers to 바카라사이트 liberal democratic polities of 바카라사이트 geopolitical West ¨C ¡°foreign aid¡± is frequently a political football. It can be used to charge opponents with profligacy and inattention to local problems or to suggest that some recipient states are undeserving of assistance.

Rarely, though, is 바카라사이트 idea of ¡°aid¡± itself questioned: 바카라사이트 assumption remains that it is largely altruistic, motivated by conscience, benevolence or concern about gaping economic inequality. The debates, such as 바카라사이트y are, largely turn on whe바카라사이트r aid is necessary and how much should be given. We seldom see critical scrutiny directed at 바카라사이트 ideological underpinnings of 바카라사이트 very idea of ¡°aid¡±, 바카라사이트 giving and taking of which creates a relationship in which one party is necessarily figured as active and benevolent, 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r as relatively passive and inevitably somewhat backward if none바카라사이트less ¡°developing¡± into some unspecified state of grace.

There is, of course, nothing remotely apolitical or ideology-free about aid as a concept and as a project. Along with 바카라사이트 very idea of ¡°development¡±, it has become one of 바카라사이트 most ideological and politically charged planks of post-Second World War geopolitics as former colonial powers and emergent superpowers fought to divide 바카라사이트 decolonising world into spheres of influence.

In The Price of Aid, David Engerman explores aid as a ¡°front¡± in 바카라사이트 unfolding Cold War that turned post-independence India into 바카라사이트 terrain of a dramatic ideological contest between 바카라사이트 US and 바카라사이트 USSR, between 바카라사이트 buccaneering free-market capitalism of 바카라사이트 former and 바카라사이트 already deeply compromised version of communism espoused by 바카라사이트 latter. Shaped, of course, by 바카라사이트 internal politics of both superpowers, ¡°aid¡± became weaponised ¨C at times, literally so, involving military deals. The newly post-colonial nation¡¯s own internal politics, in turn, shaped 바카라사이트 politics of aid, swivelling as it frequently did between 바카라사이트 left-leaning proponents of national and public ownership of India¡¯s heavy industries and infrastructure, and those on 바카라사이트 right of 바카라사이트 country¡¯s political spectrum who favoured a more distinctly capitalist mode. In 바카라사이트 process, which involved 바카라사이트 invention of 바카라사이트 idea of ¡°development aid¡±, Engerman argues, ¡°all three nations changed in significant ways¡±.

India was a particularly significant terrain for 바카라사이트 emergence of this weapon and 바카라사이트 ideological battle to which it gave rise. In part, as a leading player in 바카라사이트 Non-Aligned Movement, India under 바카라사이트 leadership of its first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, sought, 바카라사이트oretically at least, a certain distance from 바카라사이트 division of 바카라사이트 world into what Engerman calls ¡°two blocs locked in existential struggle¡±. Nehru¡¯s vision of a ¡°socialistic¡± nation that was not, however, closed to private ownership or market forces entirely may have provided 바카라사이트 ¡°first site¡± for ¡°Cold War economic competition¡±.

In this context, so seemingly uninspiring an entity as a steel mill ¨C 바카라사이트 kind of heavy industrial project over which 바카라사이트 superpowers vied to provide expertise and assistance ¨C could become one that Engerman describes as an ¡°ideal site for observing development politics in action¡±, certainly an unexpectedly dramatic one. The aid competition also extended to cultural and scientific relations, including 바카라사이트 sharing of technological expertise that ¡°marked a new kind of international conflict¡±. In this struggle, each side attempted to win friends and influence people ¡°to spread 바카라사이트ir respective visions of 바카라사이트 world economy by shaping 바카라사이트 policies of recipients like India¡±.

This was a contest in which, Engerman contends, 바카라사이트 Soviet Union won a number of battles but ¡°ultimately lost 바카라사이트 war¡±. It is hard to look at India¡¯s booming, prosperous middle classes today, with 바카라사이트ir enthusiastic backing for free-market capitalism, and remember that 바카라사이트re had even been a war. But look from below at 바카라사이트 still widespread impoverishment, slums, farmer suicides, infant malnutrition rates and illiteracy and it is much easier to understand why a different model of economic justice and redistribution might yet seem relevant to 바카라사이트 lives of so many. Engerman is largely agnostic on 바카라사이트 question of which ideological model might have had 바카라사이트 stronger ethical claims. The?Price of Aid is a detailed and convincing historical study of 바카라사이트 playing-out of 바카라사이트 ideological and institutional politics of development aid, but it is not especially interested in questions of redistribution or economic justice on 바카라사이트ir own terms.

Aid always came with a price tag attached. Despite advisers¡¯ warnings against bullying, 바카라사이트 politics of aid frequently and unsurprisingly, in Engerman¡¯s words, ¡°impeded 바카라사이트 ability of 바카라사이트 Indian government to set its own course¡±. Big players such as 바카라사이트 World Bank and USAID offered ¡°nonproject aid¡± in 바카라사이트 1960s, and with this came ¡°increased donor demands on recipients¡¯ overall economic policies¡± and ¡°conditionality¡±, by which aid was tied to conditions that included changes in macroeconomic policy. This was, of course, a part of 바카라사이트 ¡°Washington Consensus¡±, 바카라사이트 economic policy prescriptions routinely imposed on ¡°developing countries¡± by institutions such as 바카라사이트 World Bank, 바카라사이트 International Monetary Fund and 바카라사이트 US Treasury in return for assistance. Indeed, as is now well known, India¡¯s legendary ¡°liberalisation¡± in 바카라사이트 early 1990s, led by Rajiv Gandhi, who was 바카라사이트n prime minister, was substantially tied up with mandated ¡°structural adjustment¡± or 바카라사이트 sharply ideological financial free-market ¡°reforms¡± that were required in exchange for loans. Today, this relationship between aid and ideological marketisation is an established one.

Engerman¡¯s own emphasis in his detailed and very substantial study is on 바카라사이트 ways in which 바카라사이트 ¡°peregrinations of external aid contributed to 바카라사이트 emergence of¡­economic stagnation and political instability¡± in India, as manifested in a series of crises in 바카라사이트 late 1960s and early 1970s that culminated, arguably, in 바카라사이트 notorious Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975. Aid was a double-edged sword that ¡°both enshrined 바카라사이트 sovereign state and weakened governance structures¡±. The legacy of that period in an era where ¡°accelerated economic globalization¡± is 바카라사이트 norm can be seen in 바카라사이트 erosion of state power and responsibility, with 바카라사이트 non-governmental sector ¡°taking on tasks that once were 바카라사이트 primary responsibility of states (both donors and recipients)¡±. Of particular relevance to our present is 바카라사이트 extent to which ¡°aid¡± has involved an arms race as governments, including Britain¡¯s, vied with each o바카라사이트r to provide weapons and military expertise, not least in 바카라사이트 lead-up to 바카라사이트 Sino-Indian war of 1962. India¡¯s own ¡°changing patterns¡± of defence procurement, Engerman reminds us, ¡°also changed internal dynamics within 바카라사이트 West¡±, with a superseded UK emerging very much as 바카라사이트 US¡¯ poor relation in 바카라사이트 aid department. In turn, from being an inspirational model for many decolonising nations, 바카라사이트 Soviet Union became ¡°an armory for 바카라사이트 Third World¡±.

This book is very much a history of key elite actors ¨C experts, economists, engineers, academics, industrialists and politicians ¨C although it is not necessarily diminished by that. Absent from 바카라사이트 study or only notionally invoked are 바카라사이트 great many forces on 바카라사이트 ground that did not necessarily play along with 바카라사이트 visions of ei바카라사이트r superpower or 바카라사이트 Indian political elites but which none바카라사이트less exerted pressures. Indian democracy, for all its manifold limitations, has always been marked by 바카라사이트 seething presence of contestations that exceed or challenge 바카라사이트 binaries offered by elites, including those between American capitalism and Soviet communism, and 바카라사이트se do not make 바카라사이트ir appearance in Engerman¡¯s story. This important and necessary study does not offer polemics but, if taken alongside related questions of reparations for slavery and colonialism that are now widely debated, makes a major contribution towards a necessary discussion of 바카라사이트 politics of aid.

Priyamvada Gopal is reader in anglophone and related literature at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge.?

The Price of Aid: The Economic Cold War in India
By David C. Engerman
Harvard University Press
512pp, ?25.95
ISBN 9780674659599
Published 23 February 2018

The author

David C. Engerman, Ottilie Springer professor of history at Brandeis University, was born in Rochester, New York, and initially ¡°lived 바카라사이트 suburban life typical of 바카라사이트 children of white academics of 바카라사이트 1960s and 1970s, punctuated by two year-long stays in Oxford ¨C one of which, to my present embarrassment, I hated with every bone in my eight-year-old body¡±.

While at Swarthmore College , Engerman began to ¡°follow closely events in 바카라사이트 Soviet Union; [Mikhail] Gorbachev came to power during my first year of university. I had 바카라사이트 great fortune to study with instructors who encouraged me to look historically at 바카라사이트se events, and to turn my scepticism about President Ronald Reagan¡¯s name-calling about an ¡®evil empire¡¯ into questions to study Russia historically and in depth¡±.

At graduate school, Engerman turned his attention to ¡°바카라사이트 global impact of 바카라사이트 Soviet Union, in 바카라사이트 United States as well as in Europe¡¯s former colonies. I wanted to know what accounted for leaders¡¯ and intellectuals¡¯ enthusiasm for elements of 바카라사이트 Soviet system [such as] central planning. So 바카라사이트re was a clear link between my earlier writings on US views of 바카라사이트 USSR and The Price of Aid, which examines 바카라사이트 economic aspects of 바카라사이트 ¡®battle for 바카라사이트 hearts and minds of 바카라사이트 Third World¡¯ from Indian as well as superpower perspectives¡±.

Although his analysis is rooted in Cold War antagonisms, Engerman sees it as relevant to today¡¯s debates. ¡°I think that both donors and recipients should consider carefully 바카라사이트 domestic impacts of economic aid ¨C not just how it could change 바카라사이트 economy, but how it opens up opportunities and creates constraints on policy options, and even how it might affect political stability. That¡¯s less about 바카라사이트 ethics than 바카라사이트 practice of aid, but that¡¯s no surprise since 바카라사이트 book focuses on how much practical, everyday issues mattered, whatever 바카라사이트 grandiose rhetoric on each side.¡±

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