Development as a Vehicle for Principled Engagement on Human Rights: The Implications of ‘New Aid’?

Abstract:     
The notion of ‘principled engagement’ with pariah states on human rights grounds takes a middle path between ostracism and business-as-usual at either end of the policy spectrum. This essay illustrates how human rights and development can and should be mutually reinforcing, each offering a tool for the other to achieve its aims – development providing an instrument by which principled engagement between states on human rights issues can be promoted, while human rights provide a set of principles for engagement on development issues that enhance the effectiveness of aid.

The eclectic phenomena of ‘New Aid’ – that is, new ways by which aid is delivered, such as alongside or through military campaigns, by private sector philanthrocapitalism, and by some developing states themselves including, and especially, China - creates challenges as well as opportunities for the promotion of principled engagement. This essay examines the interplay between principled engagement and New Aid, bringing the relationship between human rights and development into sharper focus and helping redefine, combine and distinguish their respective methods and goals.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 29

Keywords: human rights, development, principled engagement, international relations, militarisation of aid, Chinese aid, private sector aid

JEL Classification: K10, K30, K33

Accepted Paper Series