The Political History of American Food Aid : An Uneasy Benevolence

American food aid to foreigners long has been the most visible--and most popular--means of providing humanitarian aid to millions of hungry people confronted by war, terrorism and natural cataclysms and the resulting threat--often the reality--of famine and death. The book investigates the little-known, not-well-understood and often highly-contentious political processes which have converted American agricultural production into tools of U.S. government policy. In The Political History of American Food Aid, Barry Riley explores the influences of humanitarian, domestic agricultural policy, foreign policy, and national security goals that have created the uneasy relationship between benevolent instincts and the realpolitik of national interests. He traces how food aid has been used from the earliest days of the republic in widely differing circumstances: as a response to hunger, a weapon to confront the expansion of bolshevism after World War I and communism after World War II, a method for balancing disputes between Israel and Egypt, a channel for disposing of food surpluses, a signal of support to friendly governments, and a means for securing the votes of farming constituents or the political support of agriculture sector lobbyists, commodity traders, transporters and shippers. Riley's broad sweep provides a profound understanding of the complex factors influencing American food aid policy and a foundation for examining its historical relationship with relief, economic development, food security and its possible future in a world confronting the effects of global climate change -- Provided by publisher This book discusses the 220-year history of the political and humanitarian uses of American food as a tool of both foreign and domestic policy. During these years, food aid has been used as a weapon against the expansion of bolshevism after World War I and communism after World War II, a cudgel to force policy changes by recalcitrant recipient governments, a method for balancing disputes between Israel and Egypt, a backdoor means of increasing military aid to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, a signal of support to friendly governments, and a resource to help achieve economic development in food-insecure countries. At home, international food aid has, at times, been used to dump troublesome food surpluses abroad and has served politicians as a tool to secure the votes of farming constituents and the political support of agriculture-sector lobbyists, commodity traders, transporters, and shippers. Most important in the minds of many, it has been the most visible—and most popular—means of providing humanitarian aid to tens of millions of hungry men, women, and children confronted, on distant shores, by war, terrorism, and natural cataclysms and the resulting threat—if not the reality—of famine and death. The book investigates the little-known, not well-understood, and often highly contentious political processes that have converted fields of grains, crops of pulses, and herds of livestock into the tools of U.S. government policy. Cover The Political History of American Food Aid Copyright Dedication Contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Charts Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Acronyms 1. The Early Episodes: 1794–​1914 2. Herbert Hoover 3. “But Now Came Famine and Pestilence” 4. Between the Wars 5. Interlude: The American Farmer, 1924–​1939 6. The Birth, Short Life, and Early Death of the UNRRA 7. Harry Truman, European Hunger, and the Cold War 8. The Marshall Plan Era 9. Public Law 480 10. The Politics of Food Surpluses 11. Kennedy: Food Aid and Economic Development 12. Lyndon Johnson’s Food Aid Battles 13. LBJ, India, and the Short Tether 14. The Nixon Years: Two Case Studies 15. A Global Food Crisis 16. The World Food Conference 17. Food Aid Under Carter and Reagan 18. The Search for Food Security 19. The Ethiopia Conundrum 20. From Food Aid to Food Assistance: 1990–​2014 21. Change . . . and Resisting Change Bibliography Index