A Blank Stare

Collide-a-Scape
By Keith Kloor
Mar 10, 2010 12:18 AMNov 20, 2019 2:00 AM

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news
 

I'm a little surprised this NYT story by Jeffrey Gettleman hasn't been noted at Natural Security. It's about an innovative aid project in Sauri, Kenya that seems to be a big success. Because the Sauri initiative is among the first of 80 "showcase" projects dreamed up by Jeffrey Sachs, the implications of its success are huge. Gettleman wastes little time in examining the bigger picture:

But the question for Mr. Sachs and his team remains: Is this progress, in development-speak, scalable? In other words, is there a way to take a place like this one and magnify the results by 1,000 times or 10,000 times and wipe out poverty across the developing world?

What follows after that is an interesting capsule debate on the relative merits and pitfalls of foreign aid in developing countries. And if none of that is enough to pique the interest of environmental security bloggers, the story's kicker should, which pivots to Sachs discussing the links between poverty and terrorism:

A few years ago, Mr. Sachs said, he came back from Yemen, which has recently become a haven for Al Qaeda, and spoke to American officials about how the country was "broken by hunger, water-stress, disease and poverty" and "sliding closer to the cliff." "I told our government all about this," he said. "But all I got back was a blank stare."

1 free article left
Want More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/month

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

1 free articleSubscribe
Discover Magazine Logo
Want more?

Keep reading for as low as $1.99!

Subscribe

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

More From Discover
Recommendations From Our Store
Stay Curious
Join
Our List

Sign up for our weekly science updates.

 
Subscribe
To The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Copyright © 2024 Kalmbach Media Co.