The UK will use international aid to “challenge dependency on malign actors” and “offer honest alternative for low- and middle-income countries,” the Foreign Office has said.
Announcing the new International Development Strategy on May 16, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK must use international aid to achieve its foreign policy goals and counter “malign actors.”
She said in a statement: “In an increasingly geopolitical world, we must use development as a key part of our foreign policy.
“Malign actors treat economics and development as a means of control, using patronage, investment, and debt as a form of economic coercion and political power. We won’t mirror their malign tactics, but we will match them in our resolve to provide an alternative.”