Increasingly, rich countries like the US and UK recognize that aiding and engaging with developing countries isn’t just charity; it’s also self-interested.
Growing global interconnectedness has increased prosperity for many, but it also allows global ills linked to underdevelopment to more easily transcend borders. Rich countries contend that supporting developing countries’ efforts to detect and control pandemic threats, reduce fragility, or increase climate resilience is in their own interests.
As Sarah Bermeo says in the latest CGD Podcast, rich countries’ motivations for interacting with developing countries have evolved "from a very geopolitical focus during the Cold War period to a focus that now recognizes more of the externalities associated with underdevelopment, and how those have an effect on both developing and industrialized countries alike."
Sarah Bermeo is a political economist and professor of public policy and political science at Duke University. She recently wrote a book, Targeted Development: Industrialized Country Strategy in a Globalizing World, that looks at how rich countries’ motivations for development have evolved over time, and how those changes affect developing countries.
On this episode of the podcast, Bermeo chats with Erin Collinson, CGD's director of policy outreach, about trends in targeted development, its pros and cons, and where the US administration might fit in.
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CGD blog posts reflect the views of the authors, drawing on prior research and experience in their areas of expertise.
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