United States military aid

The United States government first recognized the usefulness of foreign aid as a tool of diplomacy in World War II. It was believed that it would promote liberal capitalist models of development in other countries and that it would enhance national security.^[1]

The United States is the largest contributor of military aid to foreign countries in the world, with its Department of Defense providing funding and/or American military hardware aid to over 150 countries annually for defense purposes.

Military funding programs

There are three main programs where military funding is allocated:

Foreign Military Financing (FMF) provides grants for the acquisition of U.S. defense equipment, services, and training. These grants enable friends and allies to improve their defense capabilities.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] FMF is allowed under the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), which as amended [22 U.S.C. 2751, et. seq.], authorizes the President to finance procurement of defense articles and services for foreign countries and international organizations.^[6] The goals of FMF are:^[7]^[8]^[9]
- Promoting national security by contributing to regional and global stability
- Strengthening military support for democratically elected governments and containing transnational threats, including terrorism and trafficking in narcotics, weapons, and persons
- Fostering closer military relationships between the U.S. and recipient nations
Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) provide voluntary support for international peacekeeping activities. These funds support non-U.N. operations and training in response to a nation’s crisis.^[10] The goals of PKO are:
- Promoting increased involvement of regional organizations in conflict resolution
- Helping leverage support for multinational efforts in the event of a nation's crisis
The International Military Education and Training program (IMET) offers military training on a grant basis to foreign military officials.^[11] The goals of IMET are:
- Encouraging effective defense relationships
- Promoting interoperability with U.S. and coalition forces
- Exposing foreign civilian and military officials to democratic values, military professionalism, and international norms of human rights

Some examples of this would include the United States' efforts in Colombia and South Korea. Military aid has been successful in stopping insurgency, providing stability, and ending conflicts within the region. In South Korea, US military aid has been beneficial for the maintenance of national security, economic and social development, and civilization as a whole.^[12]

In many other cases, military aid has laid the groundwork for other forms of aid. This aid includes building schools to promote education, providing clean drinking water, and further stabilizing food production. Without military aid, this development would have been impossible.^{[citation needed]}

Criticisms

Particular targets of criticism include

Funds appropriated to the State Department and Defense Department represent the vast majority of unclassified military aid and assistance. The public does not have any way of tracking classified programs administered by the U.S. intelligence community.^[13]
The United States gives the same amount of money to its top five aid recipients as they give to the rest of the world.^[14]
Generally, increasing levels of US military aid significantly reduces cooperative foreign policy behavior with the United States ^[15]

Table

The following table shows which countries does the United States provide military aid and/or assistance, per USAID.^[16]

Countries by U.S. Military Aid
Country/Region	2022	2023
Afghanistan	No	No
Albania	Yes	Yes
Algeria	Yes	Yes
Angola	Yes	Yes
Antigua and Barbuda	Yes	Yes
Argentina	Yes	Yes
Armenia	Yes	Yes
Azerbaijan	Yes	Yes
Bahamas	Yes	Yes
Bahrain	Yes	Yes
Bangladesh	Yes	Yes
Barbados	Yes	Yes
Belarus	No	No
Belize	Yes	Yes
Benin	Yes	Yes
Bhutan	No	Yes
Bolivia	No	No
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Yes	Yes
Botswana	Yes	Yes
Brazil	Yes	Yes
Bulgaria	Yes	Yes
Burkina Faso	No	No
Burundi	No	No
Cambodia	No	No
Cameroon	Unknown or unclear	Yes
Cape Verde	Yes	Yes
Central African Republic	No	Yes
Chad	Yes	Unknown or unclear
Chile	Yes	Yes
China	No	No
Colombia	Yes	Yes
Comoros	Yes	Yes
Congo	Yes	Yes
Costa Rica	Yes	Yes
Croatia	Yes	Yes
Cuba	No	No
Cyprus	Yes	Yes
Czech Republic	Yes	Yes
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Yes	Yes
Djibouti	Yes	Yes
Dominica	Yes	Yes
Dominican Republic	Yes	Yes
East Timor	Yes	Yes
Ecuador	Yes	Yes
Egypt	Yes	Yes
El Salvador	Yes	Yes
Equatorial Guinea	Yes	Yes
Eritrea	No	No
Estonia	Yes	Yes
Eswatini	Yes	Yes
Ethiopia	Yes	No
Fiji	Yes	Yes
Gabon	Yes	Yes
Gambia	Yes	Yes
Georgia	Yes	Yes
Germany	Yes	Yes
Ghana	Yes	Yes
Greece	Yes	Yes
Grenada	Yes	Yes
Guatemala	Yes	Yes
Guinea	No	No
Guinea-Bissau	Yes	Yes
Guyana	Yes	Yes
Haiti	Yes	Yes
Honduras	Yes	Yes
Hungary	Yes	Yes
India	Yes	Yes
Indonesia	Yes	Yes
Iran	No	No
Iraq	Yes	Yes
Israel	Yes	Yes
Ivory Coast	Yes	Yes
Jamaica	Yes	Yes
Jordan	Yes	Yes
Kazakhstan	Yes	Yes
Kenya	Yes	Yes
Kosovo	Yes	Yes
Kyrgyzstan	Yes	Yes
Laos	Yes	Yes
Latvia	Yes	Yes
Lebanon	Yes	Yes
Lesotho	Yes	Yes
Liberia	Yes	Yes
Libya	No	No
Lithuania	Yes	Yes
Madagascar	Yes	Yes
Malawi	Yes	Yes
Malaysia	Yes	Yes
Maldives	Yes	Yes
Mali	No	No
Malta	Yes	Yes
Mauritania	Yes	Yes
Mauritius	Yes	Yes
Mexico	Yes	Yes
Moldova	Yes	Yes
Mongolia	Yes	Yes
Montenegro	Yes	Yes
Morocco	Yes	Yes
Mozambique	Yes	Yes
Myanmar	No	No
Namibia	Yes	Yes
Nepal	Yes	Yes
Nicaragua	No	No
Niger	Yes	Yes
Nigeria	Yes	Yes
North Korea	No	No
North Macedonia	Yes	Yes
Oman	Yes	Yes
Pakistan	Unknown or unclear	Yes
Palau	Unknown or unclear	Yes
Palestine	No	No
Panama	Yes	Yes
Papua New Guinea	Yes	Yes
Paraguay	Yes	Yes
Peru	Yes	Yes
Philippines	Yes	Yes
Poland	Yes	Yes
Romania	Yes	Yes
Russia	No	No
Rwanda	Yes	Unknown or unclear
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Unknown or unclear	Yes
Saint Lucia	Yes	Yes
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Yes	Yes
São Tomé and Principe	Yes	Yes
Senegal	Yes	Yes
Serbia	Yes	Yes
Seychelles	Yes	Yes
Sierra Leone	Yes	Yes
Slovakia	Yes	Yes
Slovenia	Yes	Yes
Solomon Islands	No	No
Somalia	Yes	Yes
South Africa	Yes	Yes
South Sudan	Yes	No
Sri Lanka	Yes	Yes
Sudan	No	No
Suriname	Yes	Yes
Syria	No	No
Taiwan	Yes	Yes
Tajikistan	Yes	Yes
Tanzania	Yes	Yes
Thailand	Yes	Yes
Togo	Yes	Yes
Tonga	Yes	Yes
Trinidad and Tobago	Yes	Yes
Tunisia	Yes	Yes
Turkey	Yes	Yes
Turkmenistan	Yes	Yes
Uganda	Yes	Yes
Ukraine	Yes	Yes
Uruguay	Yes	Yes
Uzbekistan	Yes	Yes
Vanuatu	Yes	Yes
Venezuela	No	No
Vietnam	Yes	Yes
Western Sahara	No	No
Yemen	No	Yes
Zambia	Yes	Yes
Zimbabwe	No	No