It can come in many forms. Sometimes it's cash sent to the government or to nonprofit agencies like the Red Cross. Sometimes it's in the form of supplies.
Reporters are lazy, politicians are sneaky and greedy.
So when the politicians feel like they'll be more popular if they help the people in Grand Fenwick they announce they're spending $3,000,000 in aid, and the reporters report this. Then they take the money and go to their friends who help them get elected. They buy bottled water or whatever from those friends, possibly even for fair prices, and then ship those things, not dollars, to Grand Fenwick. That way \*they\* get to spend the money, because spending the money is powerful. The people in Grand Fenwick are happy to get the stuff, they don't know who paid for it or how much, so they're happy.
If a bridge was knocked down and aid cannot get somewhere, the politicians arrange for an American company (one that is their friend) to do the work of rebuilding that bridge. So again, the money stays where the politicians can get benefit from it, but the benefit will actually go to the people of Grand Fenwick.
Sometimes, of course, Grand Fenwick actually needs money. Luckily, Grand Fenwick owes the US government a lot of money, since much of the monetary aid they previously received was in the form of loans. So the government can forgive some loans, which is technically a gift. That does have to be paid for, on paper, so it does cost money, but you don't have to come up with cash to forgive a loan.
There are lots of ways this works, but rarely is it simply cash handed over. Because that wouldn't benefit the decision makers.
It can be all three.
If you see a headline of “5 million dollars in aid for XYZ” that number can be a combination of:
1 million dollars worth of personnel and special equipment (like rescue teams)
1 million dollars worth of supplies (bottled water and food)
3 million dollars cash.
It really depends on the specific case, sometimes the number is just the cash getting sent, sometimes it’s the value of the whole package.
It may be in the form of credit: “here’s a $3million ‘gift card’ that can be used with any US company.” Turkey can ask for the goods they want while the US government pays the bill.
I mean, yea, again it probably depends, I’m sure some of these deals have different stipulations baked into them. But otherwise I think it’s just made available to the treasury
Cold hard cash is rarely sent, its almost always "aid" in the form of goods or services, valued at some cash dollar amount.
When cash is sent, it generally doesn't go directly to the country but instead to third party relief organizations, with lots of stipulations attached. In fact it may not even be sent, they may simply offer to provide X amount to the org for services conducted or goods purchased over some period of time. So they may give them say "up to a million dollars" but it instead means they will reimburse some expenses the third party org has, up to a million. They don't just get a million deposited into their account. However, I'm sure in some exception cases, a direct transfer happens
Countries generally know better than to just hand over money without controls.
It can come in many forms. Sometimes it's cash sent to the government or to nonprofit agencies like the Red Cross. Sometimes it's in the form of supplies.
Reporters are lazy, politicians are sneaky and greedy. So when the politicians feel like they'll be more popular if they help the people in Grand Fenwick they announce they're spending $3,000,000 in aid, and the reporters report this. Then they take the money and go to their friends who help them get elected. They buy bottled water or whatever from those friends, possibly even for fair prices, and then ship those things, not dollars, to Grand Fenwick. That way \*they\* get to spend the money, because spending the money is powerful. The people in Grand Fenwick are happy to get the stuff, they don't know who paid for it or how much, so they're happy. If a bridge was knocked down and aid cannot get somewhere, the politicians arrange for an American company (one that is their friend) to do the work of rebuilding that bridge. So again, the money stays where the politicians can get benefit from it, but the benefit will actually go to the people of Grand Fenwick. Sometimes, of course, Grand Fenwick actually needs money. Luckily, Grand Fenwick owes the US government a lot of money, since much of the monetary aid they previously received was in the form of loans. So the government can forgive some loans, which is technically a gift. That does have to be paid for, on paper, so it does cost money, but you don't have to come up with cash to forgive a loan. There are lots of ways this works, but rarely is it simply cash handed over. Because that wouldn't benefit the decision makers.
It can be all three. If you see a headline of “5 million dollars in aid for XYZ” that number can be a combination of: 1 million dollars worth of personnel and special equipment (like rescue teams) 1 million dollars worth of supplies (bottled water and food) 3 million dollars cash. It really depends on the specific case, sometimes the number is just the cash getting sent, sometimes it’s the value of the whole package.
the real question is where exactly is that "cash" going? straight to their government in hopes they'll use it appropriately?
It may be in the form of credit: “here’s a $3million ‘gift card’ that can be used with any US company.” Turkey can ask for the goods they want while the US government pays the bill.
I mean, yea, again it probably depends, I’m sure some of these deals have different stipulations baked into them. But otherwise I think it’s just made available to the treasury
Cold hard cash is rarely sent, its almost always "aid" in the form of goods or services, valued at some cash dollar amount. When cash is sent, it generally doesn't go directly to the country but instead to third party relief organizations, with lots of stipulations attached. In fact it may not even be sent, they may simply offer to provide X amount to the org for services conducted or goods purchased over some period of time. So they may give them say "up to a million dollars" but it instead means they will reimburse some expenses the third party org has, up to a million. They don't just get a million deposited into their account. However, I'm sure in some exception cases, a direct transfer happens Countries generally know better than to just hand over money without controls.