Development assistance has also gone through a metamorphosis. The post-World War II paradigm that development should create sustained growth and reduce poverty in poor countries has dissolved in recent years into several different approaches. The primary motivation for this assistance is humanitarian, and the amounts of assistance are often too small to have a broad, national impact in recipient countries. A third focus involves addressing major transnational problems, such as the spread of infectious diseases, environmental degradation, and the shortages of fresh water and other resources. Though not traditional development targets, these problems often occur in poor countries.
Humanitarian relief remains a major purpose for U.S. assistance.
Using foreign aid to promote democracy is a policy that gained prominence during the 1990s. Expanded aid for economic and political transitions in Russia and the former Soviet bloc countries is also a phenomenon of the 1990s. Others, like the Ukraine and Romania, continue to receive significant amounts. In recent years, the foreign aid budget has fluctuated. Furthermore, the earmarks and directives in recent foreign aid legislation also reflect in concrete terms this shift in purposes, as Congress has consistently required each administration to increase aid allocations for humane concerns like fighting infectious diseases.