This presentation analyzes the evolution of the global foreign landscape as a social network of ties between countries over a more than 50-year period from 1960-2016. First, it will present a longitudinal description of the changing contours and scale of the evolving network of bilateral (country-to-country) aid ties over time using social network analysis techniques to model ties between countries and among other actors in the aid sector. Second, it will examine the prospects for analyzing this evolution through multivariate modelling of the factors that shape the network, including: sticky ties between donors and recipients; the rise of donor darling countries suddenly receiving aid from a number of donors; and the marginalization or exclusion of so-called aid orphans from the network. Finally, the presentation will conclude with an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of using social network analysis to achieve a relational understanding of foreign aid.