International relations among Tom Thumbs: Taiwan as provider of aid Central America

• Main Author: Francisco Javier Haro Navejas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad de Colima 2007-06-01
• Series: Portes: Revista mexicana de estudios sobre la Cuenca del Pacífico
• Subjects: Taiwan; América Central; Ayuda para el Desarrollo; Identidad; Socialización
• Online Access: http://revistasacademicas.ucol.mx/index.php/portes/article/view/351

<p style="text-align: justify;">This paper analyzes the Official Development Aid (AOD) that has as its source Taiwan and as its destination Central America. It has three basic aims:</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Firstly, there is a huge bibliographic vacuum on the topic of these pages. Beginning filling it is an academic need. Even some intellectuals feel that they should lean against either Beijing or Taipei, that if they write on Taiwan they should defend or attack one of the contending parties. Here it is seen that a study close to objectivity is possible.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Secondly, most of the research in International Relations has been focused on topics related with power itself or with just elements related with hard power. AOD is both hard and soft power, therefore this paper shades light to the dark side partially viewing international relations from a theoretical perspective were interactions help to construct identities and cooperation is an essential variable of world politics.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Finally, it will be seen below that the Taiwanese cooperativeeconomic actions are helpful to the progress of poor parts of the Central American region and are helpful to create domestic markets with strong links with the world market deepening the economic integration both regional and global. Aid from Taiwan and some other countries, mainly through the transmission of know how, could be of assistance in surmounting huge troubles. Aid is vital because some of Central American’s problems are being exported mainly to México and the United States under the form, just to give an example, of Mara Salvatrucha gangs source of violence and drug trafficking. It is not meaningless to stress that Taiwanese ODA is by far not enough and is very small in the international context.</p>