United States Development assistance to Armenia from 2004 through 2014

Abstract

This essay investigates the changes in U.S. development assistance to Armenia from 1992-2004 and from 2004-2014. The primary questions raised in this study is whether U.S. assistance to Armenia is driven by political considerations or purely by economic considerations; further, the study analyzes the conditionalities imposed by the U.S. on Armenia as the aid-recipient country. There is a generally accepted notion that the focus of U.S. development assistance has changed in the period under examination. In 1992-1998 U.S. Aid focused on humanitarian aid, emphasizing food, fuel, medicine, and clothing to help Armenia cope with post- earthquake, post-war, and the post-Soviet economic collapse. In 1998-2005 the focus changed to providing technical assistance in the form of programs aimed at building local capacity. In 2005-2012, USAID there was a change in United States development assistance. There was a shift from direct assistance to development initiatives which have a goal of improving Armenia’s economic capacities, as well as strengthening good governance.