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literaryvein-reblogs · 30 days ago

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Writing an oc who's a prostitute? What's the job like? The measures they'll take? It might be lengthy, but stuff like virtual, brothel and escort work?

Writing Notes: Prostitution

Prostitution - the practice of engaging in relatively indiscriminate sexual activity, in general with someone who is not a spouse or a friend, in exchange for immediate payment in money or other valuables.

From the 1980s, the more neutral term sex worker was increasingly employed to describe those involved in commercial sex activities.

"Prostitute" and "sex worker" are shorthand for what is argued to be the more accurate term: “a provider of sexual services for material gain.”

“Pimp” - males who act as intermediaries between client and worker in the exchange of sexual services; he may or may not be in an additional relationship to the woman.

“Madam” - a female brothel-keeper.

The designations “pimp” and “madam” are charged terms. Their usage was common in some historic places and times.

Prostitution is a very old and universal phenomenon; also universal is condemnation of the prostitute but relative indifference toward the client.

Prostitutes may be female or male or transgender, and prostitution may entail heterosexual or homosexual activity, but historically, most prostitutes have been women and most clients men.

Prostitutes are often set apart in some way:

In ancient Rome they were required to wear distinctive dress;

under Hebrew law only foreign women could be prostitutes; and

in pre-World War II Japan they were required to live in special sections of the city.

In medieval Europe prostitution was licensed and regulated by law, but by the 16th century an epidemic of venereal disease and post-Reformation morality led to the closure of brothels.

International cooperation to end the traffic in women for the purpose of prostitution began in 1899.

In 1921 the League of Nations established the Committee on the Traffic in Women and Children, and in 1949 the UN General Assembly adopted a convention for the suppression of prostitution.

In the U.S. prostitution was first curtailed by the Mann Act (1910), and by 1915 most states had banned brothels (Nevada being a notable exception).

Prostitution is nevertheless tolerated in most U.S. and European cities.

In the Netherlands many prostitutes have become members of a professional service union, and in Scandinavia government regulations emphasize hygienic aspects, requiring frequent medical examination and providing free mandatory hospitalization for anyone found to be infected with venereal disease.

Prostitutes are very often poor and lack other skills to support themselves; in many traditional societies there are few other available money-earning occupations for women without family support.

In developing African and Asian countries, prostitution has been largely responsible for the spread of AIDS and the orphaning of hundreds of thousands of children.

It is difficult to generalize about the background or conditions of prostitutes because so much of what is known about them derives from studies of poorer and less-privileged individuals, people who are more likely to come into contact with courts and official agencies.

Much more is known about streetwalkers, for example, than about the higher-status women who can be more selective about their clients and work conditions.

Based on available studies, though, it is reasonable to assert that female sex workers often are economically disadvantaged and lack skills and training to support themselves.

Many are drawn at an early age into prostitution and associated crime, and drug dependency can be an aggravating factor.

They frequently are managed by a male procurer, or pimp, or by a supervisor, or madam, in a house of prostitution.

Health hazards to prostitutes include sexually transmitted diseases, some of which may be acquired through drug abuse.

Male prostitution has received less public attention in most cultures.

Heterosexual male prostitution—involving males hired by or for females—is rare.

Homosexual male prostitution has probably existed in most societies, though only in the 20th century was it recognized as a major social phenomenon, and its prevalence increased during the late 20th and early 21st century.

Prostitution during the Victorian age gained an unprecedented amount of attention from both British society and their government.

Although issues of prostitution were, and are often still, seen in black and white, there were many cases where prostitution was either a supplementary activity or the only available avenue of employment.

It was an unsavory profession, and, unfortunately, it was often considered a necessary evil.

However, it is important to note that although it was an activity highly frowned upon by upper class women in society, these same women were the first to rally to the cause of those “fallen women” that were being exploited by the government.

The popularity of issues concerning prostitution eventually lessened over time, but the resulting influences sparked by feminist movements involved in prostitute’s rights created a ripple effect that can be seen even today.

Working & Living Conditions. Key factors have shaped the working and living conditions of sex workers across the globe since the beginning of the 17th century.

These include the degree to which women were bound or “free”, or were able to exercise power in relation to employers and clients. Related to this is the location of individual women within the sex industry—where they existed within any particular hierarchy based on the class of clients, ethnicity, and so on.

Market forces have also been major determinants of the pay and working conditions in the sex industry. Shifts in the economy have impacted sex workers as well as other workers, affecting both the demand for sexual services and the supply of women willing to sell sex.

A third major influence on sex workers’ lives has been the responses to prostitution of the community in which they worked. This has included both informal and official responses which often determined where and how women could sell sex and under what circumstances.

The formation, expansion, and disintegration of nations and empires have had a similar impact on the market for sex and have contributed to official responses to prostitution.

Finally, developments in technology and medicine, especially since the early 20th century, have contributed to significant changes in the ways in which sexual services are delivered and also impacted the health of sex workers.

Prostitution is considered to be a profession of high mobility; it is almost tempting to say that probably every prostitute migrates at least once in her lifetime.

Despite this fact, the share of prostitutes in the flows over and across the continents has been widely neglected in migration studies.

Migration is thought to be a “basic condition of human societies” and “central to the human experience [and] the major forces for historical change.”

Nevertheless, many studies focus solely on the movements of European male settlers. In particular, labour migration was long held to be a male domain, keeping up the idea of males as breadwinners and the main actors in history.

Hoerder offers up the critique that migration studies emphasize “the westward flow of agrarian settlers and neglect [the] moves of workers and of women”

Changing places is a lifetime experience of women involved in the sex sector, and in many cases, they travel far more than people in other sectors.

The Social Profiles of Prostitutes. There is no shortage of media portrayals of prostitutes. Yet the images that inform our opinions regarding sex workers tend to be largely negative, depicting them as either criminals or as victims.

Today, the latter perception prevails: sex workers are stereotypically seen as:

young,

migrant girls with

no education and

no alternatives.

The most conspicuous types of prostitutes tend to be overrepresented, while those operating in private have largely been overlooked.

In addition to which, the “facts” about the sex workers represented in the sources may not always be entirely correct, as they might have told their interlocutors what they believed would best serve their needs, rather than what was true.

The social profiles of sex workers have changed considerably over the course of the last 400 years.

Prostitute populations have become more heterogeneous in terms of their origin, race, age, family situation, educational level, and professional background—albeit at different paces.

Example: Migrants did not suddenly appear in the western European sex trade after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Rather, they were always present, and always overrepresented in the prostitute population. What actually changed over time are the distances covered.

Similarly, prostitutes’ ages have altered in tandem with developments in society at large, most notably lengthier childhoods and a later start to working life.

While it is definitely true that certain people have limited options for survival, the high degree of diversity among sex workers clearly shows that prostitution cannot be reduced to a profession of the destitute, or one which people passively end up in.

In fact, people who are not members of so-called “vulnerable” groups might be more numerous in the sector than anticipated because of their invisibility.

The sex industry is highly stratified, and individuals with better prospects take the places at the top of the hierarchy more often than those with limited possibilities.

These women have chosen to use their bodies to create a financial surplus, and they are thought to face fewer dangers than the prostitutes working at the lower end of the market.

It seems easier for people to accept that these women actively chose their profession, and harder to view them as passive victims.

However, their underlying reasons are not necessarily different from the masses employed at the industry’s margins.

Although some women are forced into prostitution against their will one way or another, this is certainly not the case for all sex workers, let alone the majority.

Most prostitutes are driven by opportunity, and the fact that most have fewer opportunities than their contemporaries does not change that.

Simply put, prostitution can be emancipatory.

It can be a positive choice, rather than just a negative one.

Profile characteristics do not explain why people use their bodies to earn an income, but they do explain why certain people end up in the most visible and least rewarding sectors of the profession.

Brothel - a building in which prostitutes are available; bordello

Bordello - (somewhat literary) a building in which prostitutes are available

Public brothels were established in large cities throughout Europe.

At Toulouse, in France, the profits were shared between the city and the university; in England, bordellos were originally licensed by the bishops of Winchester and subsequently by Parliament.

Stricter controls were imposed during the 16th century, in part because of the new sexual morality that accompanied the Protestant Reformation and the Counter-Reformation. Just as significant was the dramatic upsurge of sexually transmitted diseases. Sporadic attempts were made to suppress brothels and even to introduce medical inspections, but such measures were to little avail.

By 1915 nearly all states had passed laws that banned brothels or regulated the profits of prostitution.

After World War II, prostitution remained prohibited in most Western countries, though it was unofficially tolerated in some cities.

Many law-enforcement agencies became more concerned with regulating the crimes associated with the practice, especially acts of theft and robbery committed against clients. Authorities also intervened to prevent girls from being coerced into prostitution (“white slavery”).

Prostitution is illegal in most of the United States, though it is lawful in some counties in Nevada.

In most Asian and Middle Eastern countries, prostitution is illegal but widely tolerated: Among predominantly Muslim countries, Turkey has legalized prostitution and made it subject to a system of health checks for sex workers, and in Bangladesh prostitution is notionally legal but associated behaviours such as soliciting are prohibited. In some Asian countries the involvement of children in prostitution has encouraged the growth of “sex tourism” by men from countries where such practices are illegal.

Many Latin American countries tolerate prostitution but restrict associated activities (e.g., In Brazil, brothels, pimping, and child exploitation are illegal).

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

This was a bit difficult to summarise, but I tried to include a wide range of information from different sources. In general, take into account the setting of your story so you can choose which of these references would be most appropriate to use as inspiration for your writing. Do go through the links above because there are details I wasn't able to include here that might be more suitable for your specific story. Hope this helps!

#writing notes #writing reference #character development #writeblr #literature #writers on tumblr #dark academia #spilled ink #history #writing prompt #creative writing #writing ideas #writing inspiration #light academia #writing resources

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ehrenbergese · 5 days ago

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USAID not only aids the media, but also aids al-Qaeda

Not long after Trump took office, the media and self-media around the world were very tired, and they wished they could take a few days off. In fact, I think so too, because the recent information is too chaotic, and it is not easy to sort out clear ideas.

However, since USAID has been so popular these days, it is really not right not to talk about it. Isn't this a coincidence? I was browsing the Internet today and was fortunate to find some interesting information under this topic.

1. USAID supports the International Network with US$500 million. The organization cooperates with 4,291 media around the world.USAID provides nearly US$500 million to support Internews Network (IN)

The main work of this organization is to provide financial support for free media to export news to the world and train journalists.

According to WikiLeaks, Internews Network (IN) cooperates with 4,291 media around the world. Last year alone, it produced 4,799 hours of videos and trained more than 9,000 journalists. Since its establishment, this organization has operated at least 6 subsidiaries, one of which is located in the Cayman Islands. Since 2008, more than 95% of Indiana's funds have been provided by the United States.

The board of directors is co-chaired by Democratic donors Richard J. Kessler and Simone Otus Coxe. In 2023, with the support of Hillary Clinton, Burgau established a $10 million IN fund at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI).

2. The BBC released a video that reported positively on China's technological progress for the first time. The big germs were shocked and criticized the BBC.

After Musk exposed that the BBC accepted assistance from USAID,the BBC reported positively on Chinese technology for the first time.Musk revealed that the BBC is actually a state-funded media, with USAID's donations accounting for about 8%. The BBC said that our main donors include the UK FCDO, the United States Agency for International Development, the Swiss Development Agency, and many other national agencies. But these are all expected. What is unexpected is that the BBC has been praised by the big germs for many years, and suddenly it was scolded by them and ridiculed bypatriots. For a while, the comment area was very beautiful. Let's take a look.

Netizen 1: This BBC is more like CCTV.

Netizen 2: What medicine did the BBC editor take? This report is very un-BBC (note that it is in traditional Chinese)

Netizen 3: I still like the BBC's rebellious look.

Netizen 4: waiting for the "at what cost?"

Netizen 5: Is this the genuine BBC?

Netizen 6: It seems to be more flexible than Facebook's scumbag, thumbs up!

Netizen 7: BBC: Your title is a bit unaccustomed to us humans because I am more accustomed to, more accustomed to your netherworld filter, smearing and rumor-mongering, stealing beams and pillars, transplanting flowers and trees, making something out of nothing, stealing the sky and changing the day...

Netizen 8: It is suggested that BBC should become the foreign propaganda department of Greater China in the future

Netizen 9: You are not BBC! Who are you! Did Trump cut off the funding?

Netizen 10: Did Trump cut off the funding?

In short, everyone is not used to this BBC without the netherworld filter and smearing and rumor-mongering. Coincidentally, I also read a CNN report on the Tibet earthquake before, and it didn't smear at all. Although, like Japan, the people's army cannot come to the rescue, at least it is not as hostile as the Associated Press.

3. Awlaki, one of the leaders of al-Qaeda, once received full funding from USAID to attend college, and the incident of the Americans shooting themselves in the foot has gradually become concrete. (Note: There is no official report on this matter, it was revealed by netizens.)

WikiLeaks revealed that USAID also assisted the al-Qaeda leaders in college tuition. Anwar Awlaki received financial assistance directly from the United States Agency for International Development. Washington paid his college tuition "without knowing it". Anwar Awlaki was born in the United States. Both his parents are Yemeni. He received many years of college education in the United States and is familiar with Western culture, but he is an enemy of the United States and has the nickname "Internet Bin Laden".

Although we all know that 911 was caused by the United States, and we also know the relationship between ISIS, which does not attack Israel, and the United States, it is also unique to reveal that the other party was fully funded to go to college.

What's even more outrageous is that other photos were provided. Everyone should pay attention to the USAID on the background wall.

4、Japan also contributed a bit of fun today. Since Trump won the election, Shigeru Ishiba has been preparing for a meeting. The meeting that had been brewing for a long time finally came on January 7. After a round of business praise between the two sides, Trump received his gift: Nippon Steel's acquisition of US Steel was cancelled and replaced by an investment in US Steel, and Japan promised to invest $1 trillion in the United States.

You should know that Japan's GDP in 2023 is only 4.2 trillion US dollars, and in 2024 according to the IMF's expectations, it will be less than 4 trillion. If you add the 500 billion US dollars promised by Masayoshi Son, I can only say that Japan's filial piety to the United States is really touching, and it can be foreseen that in 2025, it is estimated that there will be more news about Japanese people not being able to afford vegetables, rice, or eggs.

On the other hand, Shigeru Ishiba also received his own gift: Trump does not rule out the possibility of imposing additional tariffs.

Trump did not rule out the possibility of imposing additional tariffs on Japanese products, and he hoped that it would not be done in a punitive manner. Asked by reporters: If the US increases tariffs, will Japan retaliate? Ishiba Shigeru hesitated for a moment and replied: "I can't respond to theoretical questions. That's my official answer."

Trump was immediately amused when he heard this: "That's a good answer. Wow, a good answer. He knows what he's doing."

He also received comments from the Japanese media about his sitting posture: Japan's shame. (But this sitting posture is indeed a bit... hard to comment on.)

#usaid #usaid funding freeze #elon musk #donald trump

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darkmaga-returns · 5 days ago

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It begins with an internet search to ask the questions

What is the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA)?

The History on the website tells us:

“In May 2012, before the 65th World Health Assembly in Geneva, more than 30 medicines regulatory authorities participated in a seminar promoted by Brazil aimed at stimulating a debate among health officials and the diplomatic community on how to improve cooperation among medicines regulatory authorities.”

What readers may not know is that the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) harmonised regulations globally from the 1990s onwards:

“The birth of ICH took place at a meeting in April 1990, hosted by EFPIA in Brussels. Representatives of the regulatory agencies and industry associations of Europe, Japan and the US met, primarily, to plan an International Conference but the meeting also discussed the wider implications and terms of reference of ICH.”

So, question #1 - why did the World Health Organisation (WHO), set up a duplicate and illegitimate, regulatory body in 2012?

Question #2 - why did nearly every regulatory body in the world join up to it?

Question #3 - why did the CEO of the MHRA, Ian Hudson, who later joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2019, become the first Chair of the duplicate body, in 2016?

Question #4 - why is the Executive Director at EMA the current Chair of ICMRA?:

“The Chair of the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA) is Ms Emer Cooke. Emer Cooke began her mandate as ICMRA Chair on 16 November 2020.

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notwiselybuttoowell · 4 months ago

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Foreign aid for fossil fuel projects quadrupled in a single year, a report has found, rising from $1.2bn in 2021 to $5.4bn in 2022.

“This shocking increase in aid funding to fossil fuels is a wake-up call,” said Jane Burston, CEO of nonprofit the Clean Air Fund, which conducted the research. “The world cannot continue down this path of propping up polluting practices at the expense of global health and climate stability.”

The report found the top five funders of fossil fuel projects between 2018 and 2022 were the Islamic Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank.

The G20 group of nations have made pledges to phase out “inefficient” fossil fuel subsidies as far back as 2009. In 2022, the G7 group of nations agreed on stronger language to end taxpayer funding to projects that create energy by burning coal, oil and gas.

While some fossil fuel aid goes to projects that lack clean alternatives even in rich countries, such as making fertilisers or cement, they also include projects in the energy sector for which renewable sources are readily available. The cost of capital for clean energy projects in poor countries is more than double that in rich ones, according to the International Energy Agency, with high upfront costs and poor loan terms forcing poor countries to keep burning fossil fuels.

The report precedes a climate summit in Azerbaijan in November, in which negotiators hope to agree new financial promises.

The Clean Air Fund called on negotiators not to neglect air quality. Outdoor air pollution kills 4 million people each year, but clean air projects receive just 1% of foreign aid, the report found.

“Tackling air pollution is essential – not only for protecting our climate, but for safeguarding public health,” said Burston. “The stakes couldn’t be higher.”

#excerpts #climate change #environment #fossil fuels #health #pollution #no one is trying anymore #(part of a new series)

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mariacallous · 5 months ago

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After five tries, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba will finally lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party — and Japan.

The veteran Ishiba, who has also served as party secretary-general, won the LDP presidential election on Friday, defeating economic security minister Sanae Takaichi in a runoff vote. He is set to be named prime minister next week after a parliamentary vote.

Ishiba won the runoff with 215 votes against Takaichi, who garnered 194 votes.

In his inaugural news conference as president, Ishiba emphasized that one of his top priorities would be to rebuild voter trust in the LDP — which had been heavily damaged by a political slush funds scandal.

“We must be a party that abides by the rules, and we must create a system that allows the people to verify whether or not we are following them,” he said.

Asked about whether LDP members caught up in the scandal would be officially supported by the party whenever the next election is held, Ishiba said it was a matter for the party’s election strategy headquarters to decide.

Still, he made clear that as party president, he would have the final say.

Immediately following Ishiba’s win, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the election had shown the public that the LDP was willing to change, with the outgoing leader touching not only on the need for accelerating efforts to achieve a growth-oriented economy domestically, but also strengthening defense and diplomatic efforts.

“In terms of diplomacy, the international community is at a historical turning point, and in a state of great confusion,” Kishida said.

“We must strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance while fundamentally strengthening our national defense capabilities,” he added. “Through cooperation with like-minded countries in the Global South, we must lead the international community toward cooperation rather than division and confrontation.”

Kentaro Yamamoto, a political science professor at Hokkai-Gakuen University, said that Ishiba’s victory signaled that the factional politics of the Abe era had come to an end.

“However, Ishiba's narrow margin of victory among Diet members means his base in the party is extremely fragile,” Yamamoto said. “Unless he achieves major victories in (future) Lower and Upper House elections, he will not be able to form a stable government.”

Ishiba has long been known as an expert on national security issues and a champion of regional revitalization, which put him at or near the top of pre-election media polls of both the public and LDP supporters on which of the nine candidates would be best to lead the party.

While Ishiba was defense minister for just under a year from 2007 to 2008, he also served as director-general of the Japan Defense Agency — the progenitor of the Defense Ministry — for nearly two years from 2002 to 2004.

Although he will bring a wealth of national security experience to the post, the self-described gunji otaku (military geek) will need to build closer ties with the U.S., Japan’s security ally, if he is to continue policies the LDP has put in place for “drastically bolstering” the country’s defenses amid the “increasingly severe” regional security environment.

But more immediately, he will also have to persuade a wary public where the additional money for scheduled defense budget increases will come from — and whether further tax hikes will be necessary.

Ritsumeikan University political scientist Masato Kamikubo said that Ishiba’s victory showed the LDP is thinking about who best to lead the party once a general election is called. This has become an especially pressing issue as the party faces off with the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and its new leader, former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who was elected Monday.

“Noda has called for a ‘center-right conservative’ approach to winning votes, and aims to shift the CDP's policy line from the left to the center in order to win so-called independent voters, currently thought to make up 50-60% of the electorate,” Kamikubo said.

Takaichi has a conservative policy orientation that appeals to the LDP’s traditional supporters, Kamikubo said, but it's difficult for her to gain the support of independent voters.

“I think many Diet members figured Ishiba, with his more moderate, centrist approach to social policy, is more likely to attract independent voters come election time,” he added.

Seen as an outsider by the Kishida administration, Ishiba often and openly criticized the prime minister and the party — especially over the way the prime minister handled the political funds scandal that engulfed party factions late last year. In addition, LDP Vice President Taro Aso, who still maintains a 54-member faction and behind-the-scenes influence within the party, strongly dislikes Ishiba.

Ishiba’s most outspoken political foes have described him as a “traitor” to his fellow citizens. In 1993, he supported a no-confidence motion against then-Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and left the LDP for a new party.

He later returned in 1997 and rose through the LDP’s ranks, serving in multiple Cabinet posts, including as regional revitalization minister.

In 2008, Ishiba, who was farm minister at the time under then-Prime Minister Aso, engendered no good will with the party heavyweight when he told him to step down amid fears the LDP would be defeated in a looming Lower House election.

But in the final days of the campaign, Ishiba made an effort to gain the support of both Kishida and Aso. He said he wanted to continue Kishida’s basic economic policies and even met with Aso on Thursday night in an attempt to win him over.

Ishiba is a 12-term Lower House member who represents the coastal prefecture of Tottori by the Sea of Japan. A Christian baptized in a church in Tottori, he was first elected in 1986. In 2002, he served as head of the then-Defense Agency under former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, and as Defense Minister in 2007 under former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda after the agency was upgraded to a ministry.

In one of the first reactions from Japan’s allies and partners, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel posted a message on social media platform X congratulating Ishiba on his victory.

“Looking forward to working with Japan’s new prime minister to strengthen the #USJapanAlliance,” he wrote.

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usafphantom2 · 1 year ago

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Sweden will choose a replacement for Gripen after 2030

Gripen E fighters will operate until 2060 and the current Gripen C/D fighters until 2040 or more.

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 11/12/2023 - 12:46 in Military

After joining and then later leaving the UK-led Future Combat Air System (FCAS), the Swedish military is now postponing the decision on their way to a next-generation jet fighter until 2031, after being able to assess the "risks and possibilities" with different approaches, a Saab official said.

Three options are on the table for Stockholm: "build a system, develop a system with someone, or... acquire a system," said the official, speaking under the Chatham House Rules at the International Hunting Conference in Madrid. "It's an open question."

All the commitment of the Swedish Air Force today is in the implementation of the new Gripen E.

“We had bilateral and trilateral cooperation with Great Britain and also with Italy in the FCAS program,” said the official. “We abandoned this about a year ago and started some national studies... connecting what capabilities are needed for the future.” The official refused to comment on the reason why Sweden ended its collaboration with the United Kingdom and Italy.

So far, the authorities have not made a decision on an initial operational capacity date (IOC) for the jet they intend to choose as a next-generation fighter, but a wide range of planning activities will inform the 2031 acquisition decision.

Sweden was part of the Tempest program, now GCAP.

Indicating some level of control desired by Sweden over a next-generation schedule, the official said that Phase 1 will cover concept exploration between 2023 and 2025, with Phase 2 to address concept and technology development from 2026 to 2030. Operational analysis, system concepts and aircraft demonstrators are among the main lines of effort included in the two phases. Technological development activities will run from 2023 to 2030, while the planning of demonstrators will begin in 2026.

The disclosure of the long-term program planning comes after the Swedish defense materials agency (FMV) confirmed in September that it was prioritizing future fighter studies and "finding facts", while Saab also said it wants to be an "actor" in the program, which would ideally include a role as an integrator of "system systems".

Another sixth-generation combat aircraft program in Europe is the SCAF.

The French, German and Spanish Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program, also known as SCAF, and the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) led by Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, formerly also known as FCAS, have committed themselves to a systems approach system, where the development of a next-generation fighter will allow them to control aircraft, effers and auxiliary sensors in a way that previous fighter jets have not been able to.

GCAP is expected to be in service from 2035, with FCAS five years later.

"One thing that has not been decided in Sweden is the IOC for next-generation hunting, so this is a great challenge because we need to be agnostic. ... We cannot simply look at a level of technology and align this [development] with the time of the IOC," said the official. He added that the "risks" and "possibilities" must be considered so that an acquisition decision can be made, including the role that the Swedish government and industry would play in development.

Gripen C/D fighters will fly in Sweden at least until 2040.

"What happened is that we made the decision to fully enter a concept phase of the next generation system, which [the approval] happened the week after the middle of the summer of this year," explained the official. "So what we will do is deliver concepts, both in the system [a new fighter] and at the system system level. We need to do technological development and integration activities. We need to develop national competence both on the government side and on the industry side."

Sweden has time in its favor to deliberate on which way to go for a future acquisition of fighters, since Saab's Gripen E, the backbone of the Swedish Air Force, is expected to be operated by 2060. Older Gripen C/D aircraft are expected to be retired between 2035 and 2040, or more, because of the war in Ukraine, according to the official.

The new Gripen E are scheduled to fly in the Swedish Air Force until 2060.

But postponing until the end of the decade to make a firm commitment to acquire future fighters risks losing industrial influence on the design requirements of GCAP or FCAS, if Stockholm decides to join one or the other, although the employees of each program have often emphasized that they remain open to new partners.

On this front, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to express interest in joining the GCAP, although the United Kingdom has stated that “there is no definitive timetable” associated with making a decision on Riyadh's potential involvement. Elsewhere, French President Emmanuel Macron announced in June that Belgium will enter the FCAS program.

Source: Breaking Defense

Tags: Military AviationFCAS - Future Combat Air System/Future Air Combat SystemFlygvapnet - Swedish Air ForceGCAP - Global Combat Air ProgramJAS39 Gripensaab

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Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has work published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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theculturedmarxist · 2 years ago

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The West’s attempt to recruit large swaths of the global community to enlist for the sanctions war has decidedly failed, notes ‘The American Conservative’. Outside of the U.S., E.U., and a few close allies (i.e., economic dependents and military protectorates) such as Canada and Japan, practically no other countries have joined in, preempting any economic dogpile sought by the self-proclaimed defenders of democracy. Increasingly, transatlantic policy seems to be having the exact opposite effect.

As of June 9, Pakistan is the latest country to begin accepting large shipments of discounted crude oil from Russia, as much as 100,000 barrels a day. “This is the first ever Russian oil cargo to Pakistan and the beginning of a new relationship between Pakistan and Russian Federation [sic],” announced Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

In the present geopolitical landscape, such a move is perceived to be in direct defiance of Western efforts to obstruct Moscow’s revenues. The motive behind Islamabad’s shifted political and economic calculations is not difficult to decipher. Nor is it exceptional.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that Moscow is now sending out 8.1 million barrels of oil a day, the highest number going back to April 2020. In January 2023, almost half of those shipments were destined for China and India, which have respectively increased as a proportion of Russia’s oil exports from 21 percent to 29 percent and 1 percent to 20 percent since January 2022.

Chinese oil imports alone jumped in May to the third highest level ever recorded. Beijing also recently issued a crude oil import quota of a whopping 62.28 million tons of allotments. This makes the total import quota amount issued by Chinese leadership 20 percent higher than that of the same time last year. At the same time, Beijing’s natural gas purchases continue to push upward, increasing 3.3 percent year-on-year in Quarter 1, with a 10.3 percent year-on-year increase in April of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Just as important, if not more so, as the massive shifts in quantity and direction of the energy trade, however, are the size and scope of the joint initiatives—usually under the leadership of Moscow and Beijing — that continue to proliferate in opposition to Western-led international organizations.

The recent St. Petersburg International Economic Forum saw representatives of various economic groupings and cooperation organizations outside the Atlantic orbit meet to discuss greater interconnectivity, development collaboration, transportation corridors, as well as investment options for funding various cross border initiatives.

One of these groups is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which continues to focus on greater cooperation and integration with ASEAN nations. This year’s meeting included a notable presentation on the creation of a SCO investment bank to provide the capital necessary to facilitate such collaborative projects.

The BRICS organization featured prominently at the St. Petersburg forum as well. It also includes an important investment bank — the New Development Bank — that provides ready access to liquidity for its members, funds infrastructure projects, and facilitates increased industrial manufacturing. BRICS continues to grow in both clout and size.

A number of new countries applied for membership last year, including Iran and Argentina. 2023 has also seen membership bids from nineteen additional nations before an upcoming summit in Johannesburg this August. One of the most recent applications came from Egypt on June 14. Potential bids from important players in the energy market such as Venezuela (with direct support from Brazil’s President Lula) and the United Arab Emirates are also being discussed.

UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan traveled directly to the St. Petersburg forum in order to meet with Putin on June 16, where the two discussed their desire to build a closer relationship between the countries.

Gulf neighbor — and traditional U.S. ally — Saudi Arabia has to some degree also hedged its geopolitical bets. After refusing Biden’s phone calls in March of 2022 and denying his request to increase oil production to help lower international prices, Riyadh’s friendship with Washington has somewhat soured as of late. (Saudi Arabia also joined the SCO in March 2023, and is a potential candidate for BRICS membership.) In another move that will likely meet with the displeasure of its Western allies, Saudi Arabia additionally decided to move forward with further production cuts of 1 million barrels per day beginning in July.

Consider that, as discussed earlier, China alone has increased its trade with Russia by about 40 percent, and is set to reach a record $200 billion this year. Perhaps most importantly though, more than 70 percent of that trade has been settled in either yuan or the ruble, with the Russian central bank currently holding 40 percent of its reserves in yuan.

Pakistan has reportedly also paid for its new shipments of Moscow’s crude with Chinese yuan. Earlier in 2022, Saudi Arabia suggested the possibility of denominating its oil transactions with Beijing in the currency.

The present geopolitical system with all of its accompanying features is only made possible by the dollar reigning supreme as the world’s reserve currency. Champions of the present order faithfully hold that this system will be maintained indefinitely, guaranteed on the back of U.S. military might and Western economic dominance.

But the international environment is beginning to shift, as much due to the burgeoning economic alliances outside the confines of Western-backed international agencies as because of the policy decisions of those latter agencies and their U.S. patron. No recent move has acted as a greater accelerant to this shift than Washington’s decision to freeze and then seize the foreign currency reserves of the Russian Federation at the outset of the Ukraine war.

The weaponization of financial reserves has increased distrust in the present system to new heights. The end of dollar dominance may not be nigh, but it is a much more likely possibility than many in the West care to admit.

Russia has demonstrated that having an economy based on commodities and heavy industrial production matters more in today’s international environment than a narrow set of economic indicators such as annual GDP growth or per capita income. Should dollar dominance ever come to an end, this fact will be made painfully clear.

The United States and other Western countries have adopted an increasingly ideological perspective regarding the future course of economic development. Leaders choose to accept only information that aligns with their dogmatic beliefs.

A failure to remove its ideological blinders and comprehend political and economic conditions as they objectively exist will spell disaster for the Western bloc.

#us collapse #russia #sanctions #economics #de dollarization

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 1 year ago

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Matt Davies :: [@MatttDavies]

* * * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

September 13, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

Russian president Vladimir Putin met with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un today in Russia’s far east. His need to turn to North Korea’s isolated leader is a dramatic fall for Putin, who just four years ago was hobnobbing with then-president Donald Trump at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. Now, thanks to his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin, too, is isolated, charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court, and under an arrest warrant.

It is no wonder that shortly before he met with Kim, Putin said of Trump’s 2024 presidential run: “We surely hear that Mr. Trump says he will resolve all burning issues within several days, including the Ukrainian crisis. We cannot help but feel happy about it.” Trump has said he will end the war in a day if he’s reelected, and has called for withholding funds to Ukraine until the Department of Justice and the FBI investigate President Joe Biden.

At the meeting, Putin and Kim vowed to strengthen the ties between the two countries, and Kim expressed total support for Putin as Russia’s isolation grows, calling their stance a “fight against imperialism” and saying at a state dinner that he is “certain that the Russian people and its military will emerge victorious in the fight to punish the evil forces that ambitiously pursues hegemony and expansion.”

And yet it is Russia that is attacking other nations, including the U.S.: on September 7 the U.S. Department of Justice indicted 11 Russian men for their participation in cyberattacks against governments, businesses, and major hospital chains around the world. The U.S. Treasury Department and the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency say the hackers are associated with Russian intelligence services.

Russia is looking for artillery munitions from North Korea to continue its war against Ukraine; North Korea wants ballistic missile technology from Russia to develop its space and satellite program. Kim cannot get that technology elsewhere because of sanctions intended to keep him from developing nuclear weapons. Sergey Radchenko, a senior professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies who studies Russian and Chinese national security, concluded that we might be seeing an alliance between North Korea and Russia that, among other things, is likely to increase North Korea’s assertiveness.

That Putin feels the need to cozy up to Kim indicates the war is not going as he would like. Indeed, last night Ukraine hit the main base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, in occupied Crimea, destroying two vessels and the port infrastructure. The Ukrainian military claimed responsibility for the strike, underlining its growing strength in Russian-occupied areas..

In a major speech today at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Secretary of State Antony Blinken explained the place at which the United States finds itself in both foreign and domestic affairs. He told the audience that the end of the Cold War, a period of competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, along with their respective allies, ushered in “the promise of an inexorable march toward greater peace and stability, international cooperation, economic interdependence, political liberalization, human rights.” That postwar period did, indeed, lift more than a billion people from poverty, eliminate deadly diseases, and usher in a period of historically low conflicts between nations, despite challenges such as the 2008 global financial crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic, and regional conflicts like those in Rwanda and Iraq.

“But,” Blinken said, “what we’re experiencing now is more than a test of the post–Cold War order. It’s the end of it.”

The relative geopolitical stability of the post–World War II years has given way to the rise of authoritarian powers, he said. Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine is the most immediate threat to “the international order enshrined in the UN charter and its core principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence for nations, and universal indivisible human rights for individuals.” But the People’s Republic of China “poses the most significant long-term challenge,” he said, “because it not only aspires to reshape the international order, it increasingly has the economic, the diplomatic, the military, the technological power to do just that.”

As partners, “Beijing and Moscow are working together to make the world safe for autocracy,” Blinken warned.

As the competition between the two systems ramps up, many countries are hedging their bets, while the influence of nonstate actors—international corporations, public service nongovernmental organizations, international terrorists, transnational criminal organizations—is growing. At the same time, the sheer scale of global problems like climate change and mass migration is making cooperation across borders more difficult.

The international economic order of the past several decades is flawed in ways that have caused people to lose faith in it, Blinken explained. Technology and globalization have hollowed out entire industries and weakened workers, while laws protected property. Inequality grew dramatically between 1980 and 2020, with the richest 0.1% accumulating the same wealth as the poorest 50%. “The longer these disparities persist,” Blinken pointed out, “the more distrust and disillusionment they fuel in people who feel the system is not giving them a fair shake. And the more they exacerbate other drivers of political polarization, amplified by algorithms that reinforce our biases rather than allowing the best ideas to rise to the top.”

Democracies are under threat, Blinken said. “Challenged from the inside by elected leaders who exploit resentments and stoke fears; erode independent judiciaries and the media; enrich cronies; crack down on civil society and political opposition. And challenged from the outside, by autocrats who spread disinformation, who weaponize corruption, who meddle in elections.”

The post–Cold War order is over, Blinken said. “One era is ending, a new one is beginning, and the decisions that we make now will shape the future for decades to come.”

The U.S. is in a position of strength from which it seeks to reinforce a rules-based international order in which “goods, ideas, and individuals can flow freely and lawfully across land, sea, sky, and cyberspace, where technology is used to empower people—not to divide, surveil, and repress them,” where the global economy is defined by fair competition and widespread prosperity, and where “international law and the core principles of the UN Charter are upheld, and where universal human rights are respected.” Such a world would serve humanity’s interests, as well as our own, Blinken said; its principles are universal.

“[O]ur competitors have a fundamentally different vision,” he said. “They see a world defined by a single imperative: regime preservation and enrichment. A world where authoritarians are free to control, coerce, and crush their people, their neighbors, and anyone else standing in the way of this all-consuming goal.”

They claim that the norms and values that anchor the rules-based international order are imposed by Western nations, that human rights are up to nations themselves, and that big countries should be allowed to dictate to their smaller neighbors.

“The contrast between these two visions could not be clearer. And the stakes of the competition we face could not be higher—for the world, and for the American people.”

Blinken explained that the Biden administration has deliberately integrated domestic and foreign policy, crafting industrial strategy to rebuild the U.S. and to address the wealth disparities that create deep political resentment, while aligning that domestic strength to foreign policy. That foreign policy has depended on strengthening alliances and partnerships, building regional integration so that regions address their own interests as communities, closing the infrastructure gap between nations, and strengthening international institutions—rejoining the Paris Climate Accords and the World Health Organization, working to expand the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and so on.

Blinken said that such investments will lead nations to stand up to “the Beijings and Moscows of the world” when they claim this system serves the West and try to tear it down, and answer back: “No, the system you are trying to change is our system; it serves our interests.” At the same time, such investments will offer new markets for American workers and businesses, more affordable goods for American consumers, more reliable food and energy supplies, more robust health systems to stop deadly disease, more allies to address global challenges.

Looking back from the future, Blinken said, “the right decisions tend to look obvious, the end results almost inevitable. They never are. In real time, it’s a fog.”

“We must put our hand on the rudder of history and chart a path forward, guided by the things that are certain even in uncertain times—our principles, our partners, our vision for where we want to go,” Blinken said, “so that, when the fog lifts, the world that emerges tilts toward freedom, toward peace, toward an international community capable of rising to the challenges of its time.”

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Russia #Heather Cox Richardson #Letters From An American #war in Ukraine #world politics #Blinken #foreign policy #Matt Davies #Vision for America

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jordanianroyals · 2 years ago

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31 May 2023: A ceremony announcing the establishment of the Jordanian-Japanese Friendship Association was held under the patronage of Prince Hassan.

The event was attended by Princess Sarvath Al Hassan, Princess Sumaya, Princess Wijdan, Princess Takamado and Princess Tsuguko of Japan, as well as Sasaki Mikiyo, the President of the Jordanian-Japanese Friendship Association.

In his speech, Prince Hassn emphasised the importance of the historical and deep-rooted Jordanian-Japanese relations, which are based on mutual respect. Prince Hassan called for expanding cooperation between East Asia and West Asia.

He highlighted the significance of the association’s role in building and strengthening relations in various fields, emphasising the role of culture in empowering and supporting relations between nations. (Source: Jordan Times)

Furthermore, His Royal Highness stressed the importance of business, science, and culture in building commonalities and enhancing peace, emphasising the need to develop a comprehensive cultural commitment based on dialogue and appreciation for cultural diversity.

His Royal Highness also called for the establishment of a regional knowledge system to share “absolute truths” for regional development, empowerment and individual advancement.

Princess Takamado delivered a speech in which she emphasised the significance of the distinguished relations between Jordan and Japan, which have been strengthened by His Majesty King Abdullah, Her Majesty Queen Rania and HRH Crown Prince Hussein’s recent visits to Japan.

Princess Takamado pointed out that His Majesty King Abdallah has made several visits to Japan, reflecting the exceptional relations between the two countries.

Princess Takamado underscored the importance of Jordan’s role in the region in achieving peace and stability.

Princess Takamado characterised the establishment of the Jordanian-Japanese Friendship Association as “a significant step in the history of relations”, urging all to take the initiative and support bilateral relations as they approach their 70th anniversary next year.

“Today’s celebration of the enduring friendship, which began nearly 70 years ago, marks the beginning of a new era in the history of relations based on mutual respect,” Mazen Darwazeh, the President of the Jordanian-Japanese Friendship Association, said during his remarks.

Darwazeh pointed out that His Majesty King Abdullah attaches importance to the existing partnership between Jordan and Japan, based on the cultural exchanges shared between both countries during His Majesty’s visit to Japan last month.

Darwazeh stressed the importance of expanding relations with Japan at all levels.

Japanese Ambassador to Jordan Okuyama Jiro outlined Japan’s role in supporting development in Jordan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The ambassador stressed the significance of the Friendship Association in supporting and strengthening relations between Jordan and Japan.

Shefa’a Zghoul, the executive director of the association, presented the association’s plans to expand cooperation and establish more channels of communication with the Japanese community in various fields.

During the ceremony, HRH Prince Hassan and Their Imperial Highnesses were honoured, along with several contributors to the construction and strengthening of Jordanian-Japanese relations, in recognition of their efforts in this context.

The Jordanian-Japanese Friendship Association aims to enhance cooperation between the two countries and strengthen relations in academic, cultural, and economic endeavours.

#Prince Hassan #Princess Sarvath #princess sumaya #japanese imperial family

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libertariantaoist · 2 years ago

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News Roundup 6/7/2023 | The Libertarian Institute

Here is your daily roundup of today's news:

News Roundup 6/7/2023

by Kyle Anzalone

US News

The State Department has falsely accused rock legend, Roger Waters, a co-founder of Pink Floyd, of antisemitism over a recent performance in Germany. AWC

The Treasury Department announced sanctions on two members of a Mexican cartel. UPI

Russia

The New York Times reported Tuesday that the Biden administration has “shrugged off” Ukrainian attacks inside Russia as US officials are no longer as concerned about escalation as they were earlier in the war. AWC

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Monday that his government is asking Ukraine if Belgian rifles were used by pro-Kyiv fighters in a recent attack on Russia’s Belgorod region. AWC

US officials confirmed to The Washington Post that US and other NATO equipment was used in a cross-border attack in Russia’s Belgorod region that was launched on May 22. AWC

On Monday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said Ukraine was “well prepared” to launch a counteroffensive against Russian forces thanks to the support the US and NATO have provided. AWC

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Saturday that his country will sit out the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius this July if Kyiv is not given a “signal” toward full membership in the alliance. AWC

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the US received intelligence in June 2022 about a Ukrainian plot to bomb the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline that connects Russia to Germany. AWC

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that Moscow must keep in mind that American-made F-16 fighter jets are capable of carrying nuclear weapons. AWC

China

CIA Director William Burns held “clandestine” meetings with Chinese intel agencies during an unannounced trip to Beijing last month, US officials told the Financial Times, suggesting the visit was intended to “stabilize” deteriorating relations with the People’s Republic. The Institute

The White House on Monday accused the Chinese military of being more “aggressive” in waters near China’s coast following two encounters between the US and Chinese militaries in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. AWC

French President Emmanuel Macron objects to NATO’s plans to open a liaison office in Japan and thinks the alliance should stay in the North Atlantic, Financial Times reported on Monday. AWC

The US, Japan and Australia announced a joint plan to build undersea cables. The project will cost about $100 million and viewed by the nations as a counter to China. Fox News

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said Tuesday that he wants Congress to pass a supplemental spending bill this year to address so-called threats from China, Defense News reported. AWC

The commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral John Aquilino, highlighted the military’s threatening posture towards China, speaking at the annual meeting of the National Committee on US-China Relations last month. The group is known for encouraging engagement between the world’s two largest economies. The Institute

Middle East

Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Summit on Monday and pledged Washington’s “ironclad” support for Tel Aviv. Part of the White House’s plan to strengthen Israel’s security would be to push Saudi Arabia into a normalization agreement with Israel. The Institute

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ramped up his threats of war against Iran and slammed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, for cooperating with Tehran on Sunday. The Institute

On Tuesday, Iran reopened its embassy in Saudi Arabia after a seven-year closure, the result of the normalization deal between Tehran and Riyadh that was brokered by China. AWC

The Treasury Department placed sanctions on seven people and six entities for supporting Iran missile program. UPI

#kyle anzalone #libertarian institute #news roundup

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konradnews · 4 days ago

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Signing of Yen Loan Agreement for Tanzania: Contributing to Industrialization and Commercialization of the Agricultural Sector and Strengthening of Food Security ｜ News & Press Releases

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a Yen Loan Agreement (L/A) with the Tanzanian government on January 14 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, for the “Agriculture and Rural Development Two-Step Loan Project. The outline of the project is as follows Signing Ceremony Project Summary Agriculture and Rural Development Two-Step Loan Program Agricultural and Rural Development Two Step…

#JICA

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xtruss · 4 days ago

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How Much the U.S. Spent on Foreign Aid—and Where It Went! The Trump Administration Has Largely Dismantled USAID And Brought American Assistance To A Near-Halt

— By Gabriele Steinhauser and Ming Li | February 10, 2025 | The Wall Street Journal (WSJ)

The U.S. Agency For International Development was Responsible for Around Two-Thirds of U.S. Foreign Assistance. Ashraf Shazyl/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

The U.S. was the world’s largest funder of foreign aid for decades—propping up education, health services and human rights in developing countries and supporting the militaries of strategic allies.

Programs often associated with foreign aid, such as humanitarian assistance, made up a large slice of the total. But significant funding also went to strengthening militaries in allied nations and helping governments phase out fossil fuels or contain the production of opioids that could end up in the U.S.

Distribution of U.S. Foreign Aid By Sector In 2023

Note: For the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1, 2022, and ended on September 30, 2022. Source: U.S. Government

President Trump ordered a freeze on much of that spending for 90 days. Then, on Jan. 28, Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed a waiver for lifesaving humanitarian assistance supposed to allow projects such as field hospitals in war zones to resume. Administration officials say they will assess whether the U.S. assistance is in line with the president’s “America First” agenda.

Aid As A Share of Each Donor’s Economy

The U.S. spent nearly $65 billion on foreign aid in 2023, the most recent year for which internationally comparable data is available. In dollar terms, that was more than any other rich country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

But as a percentage of its economy, the U.S. lagged behind countries such as Japan, the U.K. and France.

World’s Biggest Foreign Aid Funders And Their Economic Commitment in 2023

Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development via One Campaign

USAID Handled The Most Aid of Any U.S. Agency

The U.S. Agency for International Development, which was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, was responsible for around two-thirds of U.S. foreign assistance.

The administration’s move to dismantle USAID has left big questions over who will oversee whatever programs are allowed to resume after the 90-day freeze.

U.S. Foreign Aid By Agency In 2023

Note: For the Fiscal Year that Began on Oct. 1, 2022, and Ended on September 30, 2023. Source: U.S. Government

Much of the remaining foreign aid came from the State Department, including sanitation and clinics in refugee camps and military assistance. The Health and Human Services Department monitored and helped contain dangerous diseases such as Ebola abroad. The U.S. Treasury funded contributions to international financial institutions such as the World Bank and provided technical assistance to finance ministries in developing countries to prevent debt crises.

How U.S. Foreign Aid Is Distributed

A large proportion of U.S. aid ended up in overseas communities via the United Nations and other multilateral agencies, as well as American and international nonprofits such as Mercy Corps, CARE or the International Rescue Committee that give grants to smaller, local organizations.

Who Distributes The Aid

Note: For Fiscal Years 2021–24 and Excludes Military Aid. Source: Center For Global Development

Aid Amounts Depend On Need And Strategic Importance

Low-income countries suffering large humanitarian crises due to conflicts, such as Sudan, Ethiopia or the Democratic Republic of Congo, have been key targets for American aid. But need wasn’t the only determining factor for how much U.S. aid a country received. Allocation decisions were often tied to a nation’s importance to American national security and global priorities

Until Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Israel, a high-income country, was the top recipient of U.S. assistance for many years and remained in the number two spot in the 2024 fiscal year. Jordan and Egypt, two other key allies in the Middle East, were also among the top five overall recipients. Since 2022, Ukraine had been getting far more U.S. aid than any other country, even when military assistance is excluded.

U.S. Foreign Assistance In 2023

Note: For the Fiscal Year that Began on Oct. 1, 2022, and Ended on September 30, 2023. Source: U.S. Government. Daniel Kiss/WSJ

Africa’s share of total U.S. foreign aid and the proportion of aid that went to low-income countries, meanwhile, declined over the past decade.

The Real-World Impact of Aid Programs

Some of the clearest evidence of the impact of American aid comes from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or Pepfar. Since it was created in 2003 by President George W. Bush, Pepfar has been credited with saving some 26 million lives, mostly in African countries. New transmissions have fallen and, thanks to U.S.-funded antiretroviral drugs, HIV is no longer a death sentence but a chronic disease that can be managed.

The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, or UNAIDS, projects that by the end of the decade Pepfar would prevent an extra 5.2 million AIDS-related deaths and 6.4 million new infections. If Pepfar was discontinued, 460,000 more children would die of HIV-related causes by 2030 and 2.8 million more children will be orphaned by AIDS, according to another model.

New Cases of Children Orphaned by AIDS (Left) Annual Deaths of Children From AIDS (Right). Source: Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, Oxford University

U.S. funding for vaccines, nutrition and malaria prevention has contributed to a sharp decline in deaths among children under the age of five in developing nations. A 2022 study published in the journal Population Health Metrics, for instance, found that countries that received above-average funding from USAID saw under-five mortality reduced by 29 deaths per 1,000 live births.

In other areas, U.S. assistance has been less successful.

USAID and the State Department spent tens of millions of dollars in recent years training local militaries and supporting good governance in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso—three countries in Africa’s Sahel region where coups have ousted elected leaders and the new ruling juntas kicked out U.S. troops to forge closer ties with Russia.

Estimates For New HIV Infections

Source: AIDSinfo

#The Wall Street Journal (WSJ)#Gabriele Steinhauser | Ming Li #US | Foreign Aid #USAID #The Real-World Impact #Aid Programs

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