Political conditionalities and development cooperation: the Kenya-Denmark relations in the post-cold war era (1989-2001)

Abstract

Master of Arts (M.A) in International Studies.

Over the years, the developed countries have used aid as a stepping-stone to
 influence or impact events mainly in the political and economic spheres in the
 recipient countries. There is the contention that until the beginning of the early
 1990s when the Cold War ended with collapse of the Soviet Union, development
 assistance had been used by the major powers and their allies as a means of
 procuring allies. Western donors to keep communism at bay, used development aid.
 It would appear that with the end of the Cold War, belief in the assistance -
 financed, government-controlled and accumulation-oriented development strategy
 also finally disappeared. The focus of DCs changed to emphasis on democracy and
 respect for human rights in all countries in keeping with final document of the UN
 Conference on the Human Rights held in Vienna, Austria in 1993. There was
 renewed focus on human rights and poverty reduction. With aid being tied to
 conditionalities, both political and economic, aid had lost its Cold War justification.
 Since Western donors could no longer justify aid to their domestic audiences as a
 tool against communism their foreign policy was now justified on the grounds that it
 would support democratization programmes in developing countries.
 Against this background, Denmark's foreign policy of the Post Cold War period
 sought to promote her security and prosperity based on a set of fundamental values,
 which encompassed respect for each human being and human rights. Membership of
 the European Union (EU) was also a key element of this policy. Individually and
 within the EU, Denmark sought to promote her interests and values pursued through,
 among other things, development policy.
 With the altered geopolitical situation following the end of Cold War, Kenya was
 put under pressure by Denmark and other western donors, to undertake the necessary
 economic and political reforms before they would continue with development
 assistance. The political developments and other issues deemed incompatible with
 Danish foreign policy led to reduction of development assistance to Kenya. These
 contentious issues were to feature in every Annual Bilateral Consultations between
 Kenya and Denmark during 1990's.
 The study seeks to look at the new international system wrought by the end of the
 Cold War, and its impact on development aid to Africa. The study also assesses the
 impact of Denmark's foreign policy on Kenya - and specifically it's impact on the
 development relations between the two countries.