U.S. and Soviet foreign aid during the Cold War: A case study of Ethiopia
Tobias Broich
#2017-010
This study provides a historical perspective of Ethiopia's position in
the international aid game at the Horn of Africa during the Cold War era
(1945-1991). The main conclusions of this study are threefold. First,
the countries of Ethiopia and Somalia became classic examples of pawns
in Cold War politics. The two superpowers, the United States of America
(USA) and the Soviet Union, switched sides to support countries to which
they had been previously furnishing assistance at the apex of the Cold
War. Second, recipient governments are able to use international
development assistance as a tool to implement as much of their policy
agenda as possible. Both the Imperial Government of Ethiopia (1941-1974)
and the Ethiopian communist government (1974-1990) aimed at maximising
external financial resources while minimising the amount of loss of
sovereignty over the policy agenda. Third, the 1984-86 famine in the
Horn of Africa region convincingly highlights the moral dilemma that the
international donor community faced when assisting non-democratic
recipient states. Ethiopia's history has provided two valuable lessons
for the successive Ethiopian Government during the post-Cold War era:
(i) the extent to which a lack of economic development and widespread
death caused by famine contributed to the demise of both Ethiopian
governments during the Cold War era; (ii) the extent to which large
financial and military dependence of both the imperial government and
the communist government on one major ally (USA and Soviet Union,
respectively) during the Cold War played a decisive part in the
overthrow of both governments.
Keywords: Ethiopia, Foreign Aid, United States, Soviet Union, Cold War
JEL Classification Numbers: F35, F50, N47, O55