International co-operation

International co-operation refers to relations through which states, public institutions, international organisations or other actors work together to pursue objectives they regard as shared or compatible.

It is broader than development aid. It may concern trade, research, education, health, security, infrastructure, technology, the environment, culture or the management of resources.

From aid to co-operation

Aid generally begins with an identified need: one party provides financing, expertise or resources that another lacks.

Co-operation does not necessarily begin from the same position. Each party may possess something that the other needs: capital, technology, natural resources, access to a market, expertise, infrastructure or a strategic geographical position.

The relationship can therefore involve reciprocal interests rather than a transfer in one direction only.

Reciprocal interests

Co-operation does not require the interests of the parties to be identical.

A state may seek financing for infrastructure while its partner seeks access to a market. One country may need technology while another wants secure access to raw materials. A university may seek research funding while its foreign partner seeks access to knowledge, data or a particular field of study.

The existence of different interests does not prevent co-operation. It makes their identification important.

Power relations remain

Calling a relationship a ‘partnership’ does not make the parties equal.

Their financial resources, negotiating capacity, technical expertise, access to information and ability to choose other partners may differ considerably. A country that can refuse an agreement or turn to another partner does not negotiate from the same position as one with no alternative.

The vocabulary of co-operation therefore tells us how the relationship is presented. It does not, by itself, tell us how power is distributed within it.

Co-operation and autonomy

One way of assessing international co-operation is to examine what remains when a project ends.

Has expertise been transferred? Can the infrastructure be maintained locally? Have national institutions acquired new capabilities? Can the relationship continue on terms that both parties are able to negotiate?

Co-operation can strengthen autonomy when it increases the ability of each party to act and choose. It can also reproduce dependence when one party remains unable to continue without the other.

Related factsheets

Official development assistance — Tied aid — Economic dependence — Conditionality — Exit from aid