What Does US Aid “Buy” in the Middle East?

Abstract

The USA has allocated significant economic and military aid to its Middle Eastern allies, but whether this assistance either enhances the development prospects of these countries or delivers on Washington’s geopolitical goals remains poorly understood. Zimmermann reviews the shortcomings of existing scholarship on aid effectiveness, state formation, and patron–client relationships. She advocates a new approach that considers the unique features of geopolitically motivated aid and argues that in-depth, historical case studies of US aid to Egypt, Israel, and Jordan allow first-cut generalizations about the formulation of geopolitically motivated aid, its impact on the state’s developmental capacity, and its ability to force the aid recipient to cede elements of its sovereignty to the USA—becoming the subordinate partner in a relationship of international hierarchy.