Bilateral versus Multilateral Aid

Bilateral Aid

Disaster aid is seldom given with complete impartiality. Instead, it tends to reflect pre-existing systems of global alliances. These may be ideological or inherited, for example from colonial times or past conflicts. Hence, when disaster strikes in Yemen, Saudi Arabia is usually the biggest donor, as it is Yemen's main strategic ally. France will donate substantially to West African states, and the United Kingdom to members of the Commonwealth of Nations, the successor to the British Empire. Hence, bilateral aid tends to reflect the general lineaments of governments' foreign policies. By expressing national solidarity, it tends to strengthen alliances. Moreover, as its effects are not diluted by other countries' donations, it can be used as a means of reinforcing the influence of a particular nation over another. In the period of Soviet domination of Afghanistan, most of the assistance supplied after the frequent earthquakes that affect that country was from Russia; it is now from America and Europe. Where it has not been supplanted by multilateral aid, bilateral disaster aid in the modern world can thus be considered an expression of geopolitical isolationism—a paradox, considering that resources are being transferred across national boundaries.

Despite these considerations, a less political form of bilateral aid comes from mutual assistance compacts. These are protocols that are signed between governments, often at the regional or even city level rather than internationally, which guarantee that certain forms of aid will be delivered when disaster strikes. Help with firefighting, media relations, fuel supplies, and medical assistance have all been the subject of such agreements. As no jurisdiction wishes to send its resources elsewhere when it needs them at home, the protocol must be clear about the circumstances under which aid will be supplied. The agreement must also specify who will pay for the assistance that is promised. Nonetheless, mutual aid agreements are common and beneficial. As a rule, it is easier to stipulate them on a bilateral basis, as this involves a simpler document. However, multilateral mutual aid shares the burden more equably—much as insurance does among insured parties—although it may require a convention and substantial negotiations before it can be put in place to the general satisfaction of all parties.

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