Background -- Foreign aid policy in the twenty-first century -- International assistance, foreign policy, and security policy -- Historical antecedents -- Epochs of aid, diplomacy, and security policy -- Manifest destiny and American expansionism -- The impact of two world wars -- Point Four, USAID, and the Cold War -- The Vietnam War -- Basic needs, structural adjustment, and the Cold War's end -- September 11 and the Iraq War -- Reconstruction, civic action, and AFRICOM -- Contemporary aid in historical perspective and beyond -- From policy to process -- Donors and clients -- Debates into the twenty-first century -- Challenges for the future