Upcoming Book Assesses Benefits and Limitations of Foreign Aid
A new book by a Cambodian-born author, due to be published this month, is set to bring the debate over Cambodia’s dependence on foreign aid into the spotlight. Since 1992, Cambodia has received more assistance for its development than almost any other country on the planet. The country has had a dramatic economic growth over the past decade and has claimed success against the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals. But U.S.-based former refugee Sophal Ear- author of “Aid Dependence in Cambodia: How Foreign Assistance Undermines Democracy,” to be published by the Columbia University Press on October 16-argues that foreign aid has actually contributed to a worsening of the rule of law, and hindered other measures of development, in Cambodia. …
