UK's Foreign Aid Policy Since 1997

Since the establishment of the Department for International Development by Tony Blair's New Labour government in 1997,the UK has played a leading role in the field of international development and aid.Over the 20 odd years since 1997,the UK experienced tremendous political and economic changes,and witnessed events including the 9/11 terrorist attack,the global financial crisis,the rise of emerging donors,the refugee influx into the Europe,and Brexit as well,prompting transformations and adjustments in the thinking and practices of UK's foreign aid,which shows distinctive characteristics in different historical periods.This thesis aims to explore what these characteristics are and the reason they are formed by examining the evolution of UK's foreign aid policy since 1997,which is divided into three stages according to its outstanding features in different historical periods.1997 to 2007 is the first stage,during which poverty reduction is emphasized as the sole purpose of foreign aid.It is argued that geopolitical and short-term economic benefits should be untied from aid;the second stage is from 2007 to 2012,characterized by the focus on improving aid transparency and effectiveness,and raising Value-for-money;the third stage is from 2012 to 2020.During this stage,national interest has become the purpose of UK's foreign aid again.Economic growth(rather than poverty elimination)led by the private sector and financial industry is put on top agenda.These three stages are characterized by different thinking and practice of UK's foreign aidThe thesis argues that the evolution of UK's foreign aid since 1997 is a result of interactions among various political and economic factors,international and domestic.Inclinations of different governments and leaders,UK's economic situation,opinions of the British public and media,policy constraints of previous governments,together with the changing international environment have formed a joint force that shaped the distinctive characteristics of UK's foreign aid policy in the above-mentioned historical stages.