The momentous changes have altered the rationales for aid in a fundamental way. Aid is not only differently motivated; its role in relation to the widely accepted prescriptions for development progress also needs to be reappraised. Aid is a rather small component of national budgets, which could be protected even when spending is being constrained. The fact is that the political constituency for aid is weakening, based on a growing disillusionment with the relevance and effectiveness of aid. The end of bipolarity in international relations and the steady ascendancy of democratic market economies in the 1990s have undermined the geo-political rationale for bilateral assistance. The rising importance of political and commercial factors in the provision of aid has arguably made it more - rather than less - strategic and less developmental. In the case of the USA - enjoying a budget surplus, almost alone among Organisation of Economic Cooperation for Development countries - balanced budgeting was a strong political issue.