Aid to Afghanistan with poor results

Sweden has spent a considerable amount of money on international aid to Afghanistan in recent decades, SEK 14 billion in the past 19 years to be precise. According to a report by the Expert Group for Aid Analysis (EBA), the aid was poorly adapted to the way Afghanistan works. The solutions that aid workers were working for were based on wishful thinking with no understanding of the country or its culture. Instead of promoting democracy and building up the country, the aid may instead have prevented development towards a more stable, free and peaceful country.

There are several reasons why aid continues despite its dismal history of failing to produce development and often landing in the hands of despots. It partly has to do with a kind of political posturing where politicians who put money into aid look good and altruistic before a not fully-informed public. The aid then feeds a whole complex of agencies, companies and consultants, all of whom are profiting from this tax funding in different ways.