Analysis Of The Eisenhower Administration (1953-1961) Foreign Aid Policy Adjustment Motivation

Foreign aid is one of the most important elements of contemporary international relations. US is the first and biggest foreign aid provider in the post-WWII era. As one of the key components of the US foreign policy toolkit, foreign aid is delivered to serve the national interests of the US. It evolves across the history and administrations in terms of form, content, location, and conditions attached.Foreign aid policies of the Eisenhower administration (1953-1961) are rarely known. But as more achieves of that period are declassified, we have the opportunity to gain a more faithful and deep insights into the policies'background and evolvement. This research is of great value in the emergence of studies of international relations of the Cold War.From the perspective of international relations, this paper dedicates itself to the foreign aid policies of the Eisenhower administration (1953-1961). Through in-depth analysis of policy design, policy effectiveness, the rationale of serving the overall foreign policies as well as the reasons for policy changes, it intends to identify the reasons why foreign aid polices were widely deployed by the US in the Cold War and testify the safe dilemma issue in gaming theory.The paper consists of five parts. Part one recaps US foreign aid policies in the Cold War by defining "foreign aid" and elaborating forms and characteristics of the policies. In this part, the significance of this research is also clarified based on theoretical review of previous studies into the foreign aid policies of the Eisenhower administration. Part two revisits the foreign policies during the first term of President Eisenhower (1953-1957). In comparison with that of the Truman administration, foreign aid programs were scaled down significantly though mainly took the form of military aid. Part three reviews the policies during the second term (1957-1961) when there was a shift from military to economic aid. Part four lists the factors that explain policy adjustment by the Eisenhower administration on three levels:international politics, domestic politics and the President himself. Part five summarizes the fundamental reason of the foreign policy adjustment by the Eisenhower administration, which is to maintain and serve the national interests in the Cold War. Foreign aid, whatever form it is delivered, is driven by specific political purposes.