When people try to oversimplify complex issues, they often produce new problems:

While Musk’s question seems like a good (though difficult to answer) question, it simplifies foreign aid and its relationship with US national security to a simple cost benefit analysis. However, aid is not usually a clean wall of altruism, but turns into a strategic tool for creating alliances, avoiding instability. Furthermore, the issues related to the monopolization of geopolitical affairs by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as the concerns about lack of broad accountability and transparency in assistance distribution, are not addressed.

Lack of Domestic Responsibility:


Foreign aid, as vital to strategic and humanitarian necessity, embodies the conflict between the international and the domestic needs unmet. This is irresponsible when we have major issues at home such as poverty, healthcare and infrastructure. Moreover, the channeling of aid through NGOs can create a disassociation between goals of aid and the actual on the ground outcomes.

Questioning Foreign Aid’s Accountability:

The idea of foreign aid, often a virtuous endeavor, can be riddled with NGO dominance and so the question emerges as to who wins. The indirect critique of Musk’s disses speaks directly to the poor transparency and lack of oversight in how aid is allocated and spent. To accomplish that, without addressing this foreign aid will continue to be more about sustaining geopolitical influence than creating real impact.