The Optimist
Charles Kenny is senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation, and author, most recently, of Getting Better: Why Global Development is Succeeding and How We Can Improve the World Even More. "The Optimist," his column for ForeignPolicy.com, runs weekly. Give Sam Walton the Nobel Prize
Why Walmart may have done more for the poor than any business in American history.
BY CHARLES KENNY | MAY/JUNE 2013
The Case for Big Brother
A little government monitoring can be a good thing.
BY CHARLES KENNY | MARCH 4, 2013
The Convergence of Civilizations
The oft-predicted "clash of civilizations" has not materialized. If anything, values are converging across cultures.
BY CHARLES KENNY | JANUARY 2, 2013
In Praise of Slums
Why millions of people choose to live in urban squalor.
BY CHARLES KENNY | SEPT/OCT 2012
Wealth of Nations
It's time to stop calling countries like Brazil and China "developing." They're just rich.
BY CHARLES KENNY | JULY/AUGUST 2012
Get an MBA, Save the World
If you want to work in international development, go work for a big, bad multinational company.
BY CHARLES KENNY | MAY/JUNE 2012
The Narco State
There's good news on the drug war: The world knows how to end it -- so why can't the United States figure it out?
BY CHARLES KENNY | APRIL 16, 2012
Not Too Hot to Handle
Why climate doomsayers are selling humanity short.
BY CHARLES KENNY | APRIL 9, 2012
Sharing the Burden
Why Africa doesn't need your white guilt anymore.
BY CHARLES KENNY | APRIL 2, 2012
A Better Bank
Why President Obama's curious nomination for the new chief of the World Bank could turn out to be a smart pick -- and an interesting indication of how aid lending is changing for good.
BY CHARLES KENNY | MARCH 26, 2012
We're All the 1 Percent
The U.S. middle class is still incredibly wealthy by international standards.
BY CHARLES KENNY | MARCH/APRIL 2012
The Trojan Paradox
If religious conservatives want to put a stop to abortions, there's no better tool than making contraception a lot more available. And there's a world of good it'll do.
BY CHARLES KENNY | FEBRUARY 21, 2012
There Will Not Be Blood
Across the world, crime is down -- and in a big way. Are violent movies to thank for less real blood and gore?
BY CHARLES KENNY | FEBRUARY 6, 2012
Outsource Your Kid
Trying to save money on a university and still get a good education? Forget the local community college -- send your kid to school overseas.
BY CHARLES KENNY | JANUARY 30, 2012
Forest Bump
The global economic crisis is good news for trees, but how can we make sure the gains keep coming?
BY CHARLES KENNY | JANUARY 23, 2012
The Eradication Calculation
Does it really make sense to spend billions of dollars to wipe out the few remaining cases of polio?
BY CHARLES KENNY | JANUARY 17, 2012
The Haitian Migration
Want to help the hundreds of thousands of Haitians still suffering from the 2010 earthquake? Let some of them into the United States.
BY CHARLES KENNY | JANUARY 9, 2012
Paving Paradise
A little more concrete could save the world. Really.
BY CHARLES KENNY | JAN/FEB 2012
Naughty or Nice?
Are there more deserving boys and girls this year than in the past?
BY CHARLES KENNY | DECEMBER 19, 2011
Change Afghanistan Can Believe In
10 years later, life isn't just better -- it's much better.
BY CHARLES KENNY | DECEMBER 12, 2011
Trickle-Down Economics
There’s a free-market solution to the world’s water crisis. Make people pay by the drop.
BY CHARLES KENNY | DECEMBER 5, 2011
Doing More with Less
Dwindling funding for the global fight against AIDS doesn't mean the battle is lost -- but it does mean we have to think about what we're getting for our money.
BY CHARLES KENNY | NOVEMBER 28, 2011
Counting Our Blessings
From Twitter to vegetarianism, 10 things to celebrate this Thanksgiving.
BY CHARLES KENNY | NOVEMBER 22, 2011
The Accidental Capitalists
Occupy Wall Street's threat of class war could be good for everyone -- rich and poor alike.
BY CHARLES KENNY | NOVEMBER 14, 2011
Making Lemon-aid
Republican politicians in the United States are hellbent on axing international development assistance. But Congress's budget-cutting mania might actually improve it in other ways.
BY CHARLES KENNY | NOVEMBER 7, 2011
A Friend in Need
Can disaster aid actually win hearts and minds?
BY CHARLES KENNY | OCTOBER 31, 2011
Club for Growth
The past decade might have been grim for the economically stagnant West, but without a booming developing world it would have been much worse.
BY CHARLES KENNY | OCTOBER 24, 2011
Don't Worry About Being Happy
Hey, world leaders: Knowing how good your citizens feel about themselves won't help you run your country.
BY CHARLES KENNY | OCTOBER 17, 2011
Everything you need to know about the Eurovision final
BY ELIAS GROLL
Inside Saudi Arabia's new crackdown on dissent
British Foreign Office to drunk Britons everywhere: No, we can't translate that tattoo for you
BY ELIAS GROLL
5 great reads for your weekend
BY RACHEL WILKINSON
Why do some groups choose nonviolence?
BY JOSHUA E. KEATING
The Army is looking for a few good drone backhoes
BY JOHN REED
Meet the movement standing up to Libya's extremists
BY MOHAMED ELJARH
May/June 2013
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