The loss of distinctions

I am currently reading Doing Bad by Doing Good: Why Humanitarian Action Fails by Christopher J. Coyne. I was concerned initially, despite the good reviews, that it might be a dogmatic attack but so far the analysis is quite interesting and nuanced.

Lots of interesting information as well. One factoid - In 2010 the global amount of humanitarian aid extended was $128 billion. That's a pretty material number.

In recent years I have seen more and more instances where despots either shut down or sharply constrain the activities of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in their countries, almost always on the grounds that the NGOs were acting as agents of foreign governments. I had long assumed this was simply despotic paranoia. As it turns out, there have been changes occurring that I had not noticed. Whereas many or most of the big NGOs used to be autonomous or private charitable organizations, sources of funding have changed.

"NGOs are becoming more dependent on official aid."

[snip]

"NGOs not dependent on state aid are the exception rather than the rule."

In a number of countries, government grants make up 50-90% of NGO budgets.

Despots are still bad but apparently they have more grounds for their beliefs than I was aware was warranted.

This is further complicated by another trend that Coyne documents, the conflation between humanitarian aid offered by NGOs but coordinated with militaries and militaries extending humanitarian aid. Fascinating and to some extent troubling.