Discussion

In terms of development, the key issues are people living on less than one or
two dollars a day.  This can seem shocking to people living in developed
countries, but the reality is that approximately one billion people live on less
than one dollar a day.  I highly recommend the following book if you want to
read more about causes/solutions concerning underdevelopment:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bottom-Billion-Poorest-
Countries/dp/0195373383
In addition to this, another 1.6 billion people live on something between one
and two dollars per day.  This means that about 40% of the world's
population lives on less than two dollars per day.  This is concentrated in
certain nation-states in sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia.  While there are many
regional differences, Cohn is correct that "the South in general lacks wealth
and power vis a vis the North" (295).   While KIEOs have helped the South to
both gain export markets and access to external financing, LDCs resent
Northern control in these organizations.  Here is a helpful video on the actual
situation for the very poor:
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/video/2013/06/20/who-are-the-
extremely-poor
The realist view is that the South wants power and control as much as they
want wealth.  Realists have often focused on powerful organizations such as
OPEC or regional groups such as BRICs.  Liberals believe that inefficient
domestic policies are the main problem for LDCs.  While orthodox liberals call
for market-oriented policies, interventionist liberals believe the North should
be more focused on special needs in the South.  Still they also think that
private enterprise and markets provide the best solutions.
For historical materialists and dependency theorists, capitalist states are
largely responsible for underdevelopment.  Class linkages are an issue. World
systems theorists emphasize the "semiperiphery." These theorists thing there
is very little movement between the periphery and semiperiphery.  Some
want a transfer of resources from the core to poorer nation-states.  Others
want a revolution or counter-hegemony.
II. What is Foreign Aid?
Foreign aid refers to "grants, loans, or technical assistance that donors
provide to recipients on concessional rather than commercial terms" (Cohn,
297).  Concessional loans (soft loans) have lower interest rares and longer
repayment perioda than commercial loans (hard loans).  Most of this aid is
official development assistance (ODA) from national governments.  For a
loan to be ODA, 25% or more must be a grand element (easy terms on the
interest rate or maturity period or grace period (interval prior to first