The Optimist
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

Work More, Make More?

The case against long hours.

BY CHARLES KENNY | NOVEMBER 2012

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

Dumb and Dumber

Are development experts becoming racists?

BY CHARLES KENNY | APRIL 30, 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