ABSTRACT
In the long drama of human development, foreign aid has so far enjoyed only a walk-on part. The first significant transfers of official development assistance were made at the start of the Cold War and took the form of the Marshall Aid Plan (1948-51). This American project, also known as the European Recovery Programme, was designed to help rebuild the countries of Western Europe and shore them up against the spread of communism. A more lasting form of overseas aid took root in the 1950s and 1960s, as Africa and other parts of the Third World began to accede to independence.1
