Foreign aid as a tool of soft power beyond altruism in donor-recipient relations

This study examined the actual intentions of a donor country when setting out to give foreign aid, with a particular focus on interests beyond humanitarian altruism. Using the PRISMA framework, the research gathered peer-reviewed publications published between 2000 and 2025 to investigate aid motivations in the empirical, theoretical and case study contexts. The data was analysed thematically using qualitative synthesis. The results clearly indicate robust support of the realist assumptions of international relations: donor nations regularly provide their aid with financial self-interests in mind, military and geostrategic interests, post-colonial power, and the spread of the influence of soft power. Humanitarian discourse is used as a mask mounted to hide more diplomatic interests. Although altruism exists, it is usually second place or selectively imposed. The review comes to a conclusion that foreign aid is a very politicised statecraft. The implications of the findings are that multilateral governance needs to be transformed in the way of international ethics, higher levels of transparency, recipient autonomy and independent reasoning. Future research directions include comparative studies of South-South cooperation and the long-term consequences of aid conditionality and gender aspects of aid allocations.