ABSTRACT
Following George W. Bush’s declaration of a ‘global war on terror’ in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks, politicians across the world have introduced a swathe of counterterrorist measures and legislation. Not only have the purposes of such measures been riddled with ambiguity, but their actual and potential effects on civil liberties and citizen rights have drawn considerable concern. In the field of development the global war on terror has highlighted the strategic relevance of foreign aid to both national interests and global security at a time when its ideological rationale in the post-Cold War era had almost disappeared. Aware of the perceived threat to global security and global markets, a melee of actors including leaders of low income countries, US and European politicians, UN leaders and many developmental NGOs have for diverse reasons lobbied for an increase in aid. However, the introduction of repressive measures coupled with the increasingly explicit subordination of foreign aid to military, foreign policy and economic interests has altered the context in which foreign aid is framed and implemented. This in turn not only affects the way certain civil society actors are perceived and included in development processes, but also unsettles the hitherto benign understanding of civil society that has permeated donor documentation and policy since the late 1980s.
