Stan,

The article she refers to is about civil society organizations calling for donors to withhold aid until Kenya makes certain reforms. That's more like stick and carrot. Interestingly, the Catholic church opposed this, saying that reconciliation and healing will take time and the donors shouldn't given conditions to the government.

The problem with withholding aid is that aid becomes not a carrot (strings or not), but a weapon. for that, there are economic sanctions and other measures. Reminds me of the situation in Palestinian Territories after Hamas won the election. It was a legitimate election by the reports I read. Holding back aid might have hurt Hamas, but it probably hurt the Palestinian people more.

Anyway, getting back to the carrot with strings. The carrot always has strings. You never get something for nothing, eh. I think aid agencies would like the carrot to be tied to a string which is tied to a stick which is leading the donkey forward. You give aid and assistance with the understanding that the government will participate, that it will make certain changes, that it will move forward.

As for greed and corruption, donor money is hard to get. There are way too many easier ways to make money. But, I think many governments have become quite adept at speaking the speak and attracting donor money, then foot-dragging, confusing things, using rhetoric in place of action, etc. Or use donor money to fund government services or programs and then divert that money to other purposes (Ahem, Ethiopia). Lastly, i would also say donors are often hesitant to face corruption head on, so you see a lot of anti-corruption projects focused on civil society monitoring and media (Ahem, Millenium Challenge Corporation, or MCC).

Okay, I've probably said way too much....and now everybody knows my secret identity (batman is bruce wayne...or perhaps more appropriately, Robin is...well, Robin, I guess. Poor kid.)

Eric