Annan, when he described the goals of the UN – promoting peace
and development – and the goals of business – creating wealth and
prosperity – as “mutually supportive.”^85
It is still difficult to assess precisely the impact of the new economic
approaches that have been introduced in the South over the past
twenty years. Whereas these policies were put in place to foster eco-
nomic growth, there is some evidence that they have led to a growing
concentration of wealth and to an increase in inequality. What is
perfectly clear, at all events, is that the advancement of structural
adjustment, free trade, and foreign investment was in close harmony
with the values and principles of an assertive global right.
This neoliberal reshaping of development objectives was accom-
panied by a transformation of development assistance policies. In
1980, foreign aid represented 0.37 percent of the developed countries’
GNP. By 1997, this proportion had reached a historic low of
0.22 percent.^86 To the satisfaction of conservatives – and thanks in
large part to the US administration’s ceaseless efforts – the inter-
national target of 0.7 percent, which the governments of the South
and NGOs recalled at every opportunity, had lost its sacred aura.
Revealingly, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands – four
states where social-democracy and the left have historically been
strong – were the only rich countries to constantly display an aid con-
tribution above 0.7 percent. The predictions of those who foresaw the
possible end of foreign aid proved unwarranted, however. In the wake
of the 2002 Monterrey meeting, and boosted by debt relief operations,
development assistance went up to 0.33 percent of the developed
countries’ GNI and totaled over $100 billion by 2005. Yet, according
to preliminary OECD estimates, aid is likely to fall back in the late
2000s.^87 Overall, the relative weight of aid in Northern countries’ for-
eign policy has been on the decline over the past quarter-century.
Numerous reasons explained the drop of development assistance.
More often than not, governments of the North justified their decreased
generosity by the need to put their public finances in order. The
(^85) United Nations, “Cooperation Between United Nations and Business,” press
86 release, SG/2043, February 9, 1998.
OECD,Development Co-operation Report 2002, Paris, OECD, 2003, p. 229.
(^87) See OECD, “Development Aid from OECD Countries Fell 5.1 Percent in
2006,” (www.oecd.org/document/17/0,2340,en_2649_3444738341265
1_1_1_1,00.html)
162 Left and Right in Global Politics