The majority of great countries have embraced foreign aid as an instrument of “soft power” to achieve their political and economic aims.  Saudi Arabia is no exception to this trend. 

Today, the EU has confirmed that it will support the wider region of the Horn of Africa with a total of €3 billion until 2020.

As one of the most important investors in the previously unified Sudan and now in the independent South Sudan, China has displayed what is by its standards unprecedented diplomatic activism to support the peace talks in Addis Ababa, mainly through its contribution to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan and active mediation efforts.

Cuba is offering to throw the entire weight of its international medical mission at stopping the spread of Ebola and avoiding— in the words of Raul Castro— “a humanitarian crisis of unpredictable consequences.”

Israel, whose researchers are doing pathfinding work in the fight against Ebola fever that is spreading in Western Africa and beyond, will send three mobile emergency clinics to the region.

Although 10 days have passed since the sudden involvement of Jordan in the air raids against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, public opinion remains perplexed and absent from the goals and justifications of the international campaign. Most Jordanians are still wondering whether their kingdom is effectively fighting in the war or not.

The French development aid budget has been reduced by almost 20% since 2012. France hopes to cover this reduction with a tax on financial transactions, but the yields are uncertain, EurActiv France reports. 

Supporting the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and African partner nations, service members from U.S. Africa Command help facilitate the building of an Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) in Liberia as part of Operation United Assistance, a humanitarian relief operation in Ebola-stricken West African nations.