As U.S.-led forces continue to wage the Bush administration's war on terrorism in Afghanistan, calls are mounting for the United States to attack terrorism on another front: by boosting foreign aid. A coalition of international humanitarian agencies wants America and other industrial nations to double their aid levels as a way to alleviate the poverty, disease and illiteracy they say fan the flames of terrorism. They focus their call on the United States, which spends less on aid, as a percentage of national income, than any industrial nation. But critics say foreign aid has done little to improve living standards in the developing world, often lines the pockets of corrupt government officials and doesn't address the true causes of anti-U.S. sentiment.

Mary H. Cooper specializes in environmental, energy and defense issues. Before joining CQ Researcher as a staff writer in 1983, she was a reporter and Washington correspondent for the Rome daily newspaper l'Unita. She is the author of The Business of Drugs (CQ Press, 1990). She also is a contract translator-interpreter for the U.S. State Department. Cooper graduated from Hollins College in English.