The collapse of communism, the rise of new economic powers such as China and Southeast Asia, and the rede-fining of security concerns in the wake of 11 September, 2001, have all forced tectonic shifts in the very foundations of the aid industry. These changes have caught by surprise both the aid-fatigued bureaucracies of the north and the aid-addicted recipients of the south, and a redefining of the role of aid has become necessary.

The ‘inside’ view sees aid as a well-meaning rationalistic activity designed to contribute to development and poverty alleviation, while from the ‘outside’ aid is seen as a terrain of incompatible interests where high-sounding goals provide a cover under which actors push their own self interests for economic or political gain. Taking the example of Finland and examining its assistance to Nepal in two sectors—water supply and forestry— Aid under Stress argues how aid is both a planned intervention to transfer resources from richer to poorer countries and a socially constructed and contested set of multifaceted processes with agendas and logic of their own. The book also examines the issue of corruption and an attempt is made to understand it
in the context it operates. It concludes that to ensure future aid effectiveness, it is important not only to look at intended impacts but also the unintended consequences at various levels.

The strength of Aid under Stress lies in its being an in- dependent peer review that poses a serious challenge
to the flawed framework of self evaluation within the
aid industry, a process characterised by a high degree of incestuousness.