Graduate / The role of foreign aid - my Ph.D SOP in Political Science [5]

Please have a look at my Ph.D SOP in the Political Science field. Since only a few days are left before the deadline, your response would be highly invaluable to me. Many thanks in advance.

My recent professional work at AB was the time for confirming what Hans Morgenthau talked about foreign aid: "the most baffling among modern innovations introduced into the practice of foreign policy". The foreign aid history and size of C, the world's recipient-turned donor country and member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee, may pale in comparison to those of other donors. Nonetheless, this relatively small world was representative enough for me to witness the complexity insisted by Morgenthau and the real politick of foreign aid suggested by Carol Lancaster. Against this backdrop, my work raised more questions than answers for me. Does ODA (Official Development Assistance) serve as a realistic means to contribute to economic and social development of developing countries? Whose interest does it serve, the governing group of recipient countries or the governed if we say 'effective'? How is the life of ordinary citizens affected by it? Does foreign aid bring positive impact to stabilizing governance and improving people's lives of fragile states, whose governments fail to function? Foreign aid, born as a diplomatic tool in the Cold War era, is likely to take an increasing role in the international politics in this globalization era. Based on my relevant work and education, I am to further explore the issues of foreign aid motivations, interest and effectiveness especially in fragile states as I pursue a Ph.D. in International Relations.

My master focusing on Development Studies in X and professional work in the foreign aid policy arena made me conduct a number of relevant research. While a graduate student at X, I carried out two field surveys in Y as well as in an Z and examined the impact of development initiatives on marginalized social groups. During the surveys, I employed various qualitative research techniques including focus group interview, action research and participatory research. This consultancy paper writing taught me one lesson that there is a gap between those who initiated policies and those who live under them. Following those research techniques and the lesson, I wrote my master thesis, "__" to discuss how C's ODA projects reflect development needs of its aid recipient countries with in-depth interviews and narrative analysis of development practitioners of the aid agency. As a result, I found out that C's ODA gives little attention to the needs and interest of direct beneficiaries while reflecting those of government officials of recipient countries. Then, my argument followed that this was the result of C's ODA being diplomatic and economic interest oriented rather than development oriented. In addition, in my profession, I researched on various development issues including fragile states and wrote internal policy strategies, an opportunity to keep abreast of current issues of foreign aid. Since those research experiences mainly resorted to qualitative research, lacking quantitative research, now I wish I could have conducted more academically rigorous research by duly combining qualitative and quantitative methodologies.

The scholarship of foreign aid in Political Science seems divided eventually into two parts: donor motivations and aid effectiveness. On the latter, heterogeneous voices are here to stay on the question of whether foreign aid brings out positive impact on developing countries, an issue to which I believe that my future research can contribute. Bxx skeptically argues that foreign aid no more than strengthens the existing regime, irrelevant to development while Sxx contends that democratic donors actually promote democratization of them, emphasizing the role of donor intent. Meanwhile, Dxx suggests that aid effectiveness depends on recipient countries' policies and situations. Among these discourses, research on fragile states seems limited in comparison to a much larger body of literature on the aid effectiveness for all aid recipients. Similarly, attempts to reflect the voices of aid recipient people, not country, appear limited. Therefore, I plan to investigate 1) whether foreign aid has made positive contribution to governance in fragile states and 2) whether during this process it has improved the lives of citizens by using both quantitative analysis on relevant indicators and qualitative analysis on narratives of the stakeholders. Another research project is about the effect of foreign aid on the regime change and democratization of developmental states by comparatively analyzing C and other similar countries. C, which heavily received foreign aid from the 1950s to the 1980s and achieved rapid economic growth, toppled the authoritarian regime and achieved democratization. With this case, I plan to discuss what determinants play in the relationship between foreign aid and regime change.

In search for where to undertake my doctoral studies, the academic environment, where the faculty of International Relations focuses on conflict, foreign aid and development, comes at first. Professor Mxx's scholarship which takes a sectoral approach in discussing aid impact and recently involves attitudinal and behavioral surveys on recipient countries' citizens aligns with my interest in foreign aid and development. In addition, the scholarships of Professor Txx and Sxx on international institutions and conflict are important for my future research in fragile states and governance. Other subfields also appear well focused and balanced in faculty interest and methodologies, which help Ph.D. students nurture insightful overview of political science. A further attraction is an academically encouraging environment where Ph.D. students can co-work closely with their faculty and publish their research. To be specific, the recently established research institute, Ixx seems to serve as an active platform for students and professors to closely cooperate, which made me strongly desired to belong to this community.

In conclusion, despite its inherent limitations and complexity, the role of foreign aid in current international community seems to grow as states are becoming more interdependent, and people are more aware of the world's poverty and inequality. I plan to make my scholarship on foreign aid and development relevant to both the academia and the real policy world by discovering meaningful agendas and leading the discourse. To this end, I am confident that the strengths of the Department of xx at UU offer a perfect environment to develop my academic insights and skills.