US Foreign Aid to Pakistan and Democracy: An Overview

Abstract

This paper examines United States (US) bilateral aid flows to Pakistan
from 1947 to 2006 to determine the extent to which the assistance has
been linked with the strengthening of democracy in Pakistan vis-à-vis
US perceived geo-strategic and security interests. Comparing the
allocation of US economic and military aid to democratic and
dictatorial regimes in Pakistan (in terms of total, average annual, and
per capita per year), the paper finds that US aid shows a consistent
pattern of high flows for military dictatorships and low or negligible
flows for democratic governments, indicating that US aid has not been
used to promote democracy in Pakistan; in fact, it has undermined it.
The national and regional events responsible for the ebb and flow of
US aid are discussed, showing that the US has maintained warm
cooperative relationships with military dictators to use Pakistan to
pursue its own political, security and geo-strategic goals.