Does Health Aid Mitigate Interstate Hostility? Evidence from the US and China

Does health aid mitigate interstate hostility between donors and recipients? By analyzing the effects of health aid from the US and China on interstate hostility from 1990 to 2010, we test this “peace-through-aid” hypothesis. We find that US health aid significantly reduces hostility with recipient states, but see no such effect for Chinese health aid. The pacifying effect of US health aid is particularly pronounced when the aid is directed toward recipients with foreign policy preferences that differ from those of the US. These findings suggest that health aid serves as an effective policy tool for the US to improve relations with states that are otherwise unfriendly or hostile.