Theorists of border externalization have portrayed aid in border control cooperation as a bargaining chip that the European Union uses to “buy” the cooperation of countries of “origin” and “transit.” More recent scholarship, instead, has depicted aid as a rent that Southern actors try to extract from Northern donors by capitalizing on the presence of foreign, “undesirable” populations within their own borders. Both explanations overlook the manifold ways countries of “origin” and “transit” maneuver aid in diplomatic relations over border control, thus failing to conceptualize aid beyond the incentive/rent binary. This paper analyses the implementation of three aid-funded projects in the field of migration in Morocco. Building on postcolonial international relations and organizational sociology, I argue that countries of “origin” and “transit” do not always welcome aid in the field of migration with open hands. Rather, they decide to cooperate (or not) with Global North donors and their subcontracting partners depending on how specific aid-funded projects fit into their broader domestic and international foreign policy strategy. I identify a three-tiered typology of engagement (facilitation, negotiation, and obstruction) to argue that aid rather works as a terrain where countries of “origin” and “transit” display, contest, and renegotiate diplomatic relations with Northern partners in situations of power asymmetry.

中文翻译：

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竞争领域：使援助在欧洲和摩洛哥边境外交中的作用复杂化

边界外部化理论家将边境控制合作援助描述为欧盟用来“购买”“原籍国”和“过境国”合作的筹码。相反，最近的学术研究将援助描述为南方行为体试图通过利用本国境内“不受欢迎的”外国人口的存在从北方捐助者那里榨取的租金。这两种解释都忽视了“原籍国”和“过境国”在外交关系中通过边界控制操纵援助的多种方式，因此未能将援助概念化到激励/租金二元之外。本文分析了摩洛哥移民领域三个援助资助项目的实施情况。以后殖民国际关系和组织社会学为基础，我认为，“原籍国”和“过境国”并不总是张开双手欢迎移民领域的援助。相反，他们决定与全球北方捐助者及其分包合作伙伴合作（或不合作），具体取决于具体的援助资助项目如何融入其更广泛的国内和国际外交政策战略。我确定了一种三层参与类型（促进、谈判和阻挠），以论证援助更像是一个领域，在这种情况下，“原籍国”和“过境国”国家与北方伙伴展示、竞争和重新谈判外交关系权力不对称。他们决定与全球北方捐助者及其分包合作伙伴合作（或不合作），具体取决于具体的援助资助项目如何融入其更广泛的国内和国际外交政策战略。我确定了一种三层参与类型（促进、谈判和阻挠），以论证援助更像是一个领域，在这种情况下，“原籍国”和“过境国”国家与北方伙伴展示、竞争和重新谈判外交关系权力不对称。他们决定与全球北方捐助者及其分包合作伙伴合作（或不合作），具体取决于具体的援助资助项目如何融入其更广泛的国内和国际外交政策战略。我确定了一种三层参与类型（促进、谈判和阻挠），以论证援助更像是一个领域，在这种情况下，“原籍国”和“过境国”国家与北方伙伴展示、竞争和重新谈判外交关系权力不对称。