Would other countries be as 'willing' to help UK/US?

[amare32]

It is always sad to hear about natural disasters in other countries, UK seems to be the amongst the first countries to assist with aid but this got me wondering if it was the reverse would other countries who have benefitted from UK/USA help in the past be as ready to return the benefit?

[Pints]

The cynic in me is inclined to say... "like fk they would!"

[DSM2]

Pints said:

The cynic in me is inclined to say... "like fk they would!"

+1

[amare32]

I think this would be the case, when New Orleans was flooded you certainly didn't hear about other countries opening up their wallets to assist with the aid effort..

[TuxRacer]

What, if we only built houses on flood plains?

[Eric Mc]

amare32 said:

It is always sad to hear about natural disasters in other countries, UK seems to be the amongst the first countries to assist with aid but this got me wondering if it was the reverse would other countries who have benefitted from UK/USA help in the past be as ready to return the benefit?

Do you think that the UK and US are the only "developed" country to respond to these disasters?
Most developed countries have disaster budgets that are triggered when these situations occur.

[TuxRacer]

amare32 said:

I think this would be the case, when New Orleans was flooded you certainly didn't hear about other countries opening up their wallets to assist with the aid effort..

I barely heard about the US opening their wallet though, to be fair.

[172ff]

If Pakistan has enough money to develop nuclear weapons, they have enough cash to sort out there own problems. IMO of course.

[Bluebarge]

Why would they need to? UK and US are 2 of the richest nations on earth; we can sort it ourselves and any logisitical help would be forthcoming from neighbouring countries.

[fido]

I'm sure they would be willing to help, but there are always strings attached with any sort of help - even when it's between friends. Btw the UK is still paying for the help it received over fifty years ago ... still a quarter of 1 big one to go ..

http://chrisworth.com/2005/05/uks-debt-to-usa-gett...

[theboyfold]

On a similar note, does the giving of international aid actually benefit the uk in anyway, shape or form?

[grumbledoak]

International Aid is more normally given in the form of bribes to facilitate trade, so yes.

[Eric Mc]

theboyfold said:

On a similar note, does the giving of international aid actually benefit the uk in anyway, shape or form?

Sometimes it does.

It isn't totally altrusitic.

Don't forget that there are two types of foreign aid - state funded and private.
State funded aid is sometimes questionable. Private bodies can chose how they donate their funds.

[TuxRacer]

fido said:

Btw the UK is still paying for the help it received over fifty years ago ... still a quarter of 1 big one to go ..

http://chrisworth.com/2005/05/uks-debt-to-usa-gett...

Really? That article is from 2005.

This one's from 2006: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/art...

[scenario8]

theboyfold said:

On a similar note, does the giving of international aid actually benefit the uk in anyway, shape or form?

I'm pretty sure BAe would have an opinion on that.

[fido]

TuxRacer said:

This one's from 2006: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/art...

Ok, so the UK finally paid off the loan after 51 years Apologies for my lazy link finding.

[5unny]

amare32 said:

I think this would be the case, when New Orleans was flooded you certainly didn't hear about other countries opening up their wallets to assist with the aid effort..

Well one 'aye-rab' nation alone gave $500 million so yes whilst we didn't hear about it, I'm sure aid was still given to the Americans back then.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168443,00.html

[theboyfold]

scenario8 said:

theboyfold said:

On a similar note, does the giving of international aid actually benefit the uk in anyway, shape or form?

I'm pretty sure BAe would have an opinion on that.

Sorry, I might be missing the point here but what would BAE have to say about this?

[TuxRacer]

Yes, you are missing the point.

If you Google BAe and SFO you'll probably turn up some hints.

[Spiritual_Beggar]

Bluebarge said:

Why would they need to? UK and US are 2 of the richest nations on earth;

Is this still the case?

Especially with the UK.