Taking Stock of the U.S. Security Assistance Program - Are We Getting Our Money's Worth?

Abstract : The overall goal of U.S. defense and foreign policy since World War II has been to foster a stable, peaceful world, conducive to national security, economic prosperity, and individual freedom. It has been determined that the United States has vital overseas interests and that protecting those interests depends upon association with other nations sharing our basic aims. In the post Cold War world, all programs receiving a share of the ever constrained federal budget, warrant scrutiny as to the return received on that investment. The United States Security Assistance Program, a byproduct of the policies of 'containment' and 'deterrence', continues to flourish and grow. The question needs to be asked, 'Does this program warrant the large amount of funding it receives?' This paper reviews the history, evolution, and composition of this complex aid program, and analyzes its applicability in the post Cold War world. By reviewing the behavior of security assistance recipients during the period of the Gulf War, this paper concludes that as the United States focuses on a National Security Strategy of Engagement and Enlargement, the utilization of Security Assistance as a principal tool of United States foreign policy, should now more than ever serve as the lynch pin of that strategy.