Foreign aid sent as an alternative (7)
I believe the answer is:
instead
'as an alternative' is the definition.
('instead' can be a synonym of 'as an alternative')
'foreign aid sent' is the wordplay.
'foreign' indicates an anagram (foreign order of the letters).
'aid'+'sent'='aidsent'
'aidsent' with letters rearranged gives 'INSTEAD'.
(Other definitions for instead that I've seen before include "In lieu" , "Stained (anag)" , "In place (of)" , "for a change" , "as an alternative option" .)