Differences between Marshall Plan in Germany after Second World War and Iraq's reconstruction aid after the Gulf War (PDF)

Academic Paper from the year 2019 in the subject Politics - Other International Politics Topics, grade: A, Kenyatta University, language: English, abstract: Many scholars consider the Marshall Plan as the most successful foreign policy initiative in the U.S history. In the recent past, the term has been used as a campaign tool for American foreign policy abroad. Since the end of Germany's Marshall Plan in the 1950s, none of the subsequent economic recovery plans have had similar levels of impact.

On June 5, 1947, the secretary of state General George C Marshall suggested that United States provide economic aid to assist Europe in recovering from the devastation of World War II. The Congress appropriated $13.3 billion (more than $100 billion in today's dollars) to be used over four years to reconstruct Europe. This plan is considered successful in Europe, especially in Germany, where it significantly boosted economic growth. Consequently, future administrations adopted similar approaches in an attempt to stimulate economies abroad. The most recent similar plan is the George W Bush reconstruction plan for Iraq. The 'Marshall Plan' for Iraq failed to spark similar success like in Germany in the 1950s. Arkes (2015) intimated that the failure of Iraq's 'Marshall Plan' can be attributed to differences in political, economic, and security conditions. In this section, we critically review the Marshall Plan as a model of reconstruction aid by comparing the conditions and outcomes in Germany and Iraq.