By Stephen Brown

For over 60 years, Western countries have continuously adjusted their foreign aid programs, often responding to changes in the international context (such as the end of the Cold War) or to new understandings of how best to achieve lasting results. At other times, though, donor countries’ new aid policies follow changes in domestic politics and the ideology of ruling parties, sometimes reverting to practices that closely resemble ones that had been rejected in the past The following article traces the evolution in Canadian foreign aid since 2000 and unpacks two key concepts in development assistance more generally: aid effectiveness and policy coherence. Though it focuses on Canada, the discussion is relevant for other aid donors as well.