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.

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

Doctors Without Borders

Letting medical professionals and other skilled workers from the developing world emigrate is a good deal for everyone.

BY CHARLES KENNY | OCTOBER 11, 2011

Wanted: Smarter Patients

The key to improving medical care in the developing world isn't better doctors -- it's educating everyone else.

BY CHARLES KENNY | OCTOBER 3, 2011

Pennies from Heaven

Is God to blame for the global market meltdown?

BY CHARLES KENNY | SEPTEMBER 26, 2011

The Myth of the Middle Class

The world's most pandered-to demographic is no more economically productive or civic-minded than anyone else.

BY CHARLES KENNY | SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

Got Cheap Milk?

Why ditching your fancy, organic, locavore lifestyle is good for the world's poor.

BY CHARLES KENNY | SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

Red Dawn

Why the United States should embrace, not fear, China's economic rise.

BY CHARLES KENNY | SEPTEMBER 6, 2011

Cloudy with a Chance of Insurgency

Does extreme weather cause war? Don't count on it.

BY CHARLES KENNY | AUGUST 29, 2011

Slim Pickings

Mexico is the most staggeringly unequal society on the planet -- but it doesn't have to stay that way.

BY CHARLES KENNY | AUGUST 22, 2011

Three Cheers for Decline

Look on the bright side, America: Downgrading your global ambitions could make you a healthier and happier nation.

BY CHARLES KENNY | AUGUST 9, 2011

The Cultural Evolution

The baggage we carry from our ethnic and national backgrounds can keep people poor -- but it can also change, and faster than you'd think.

BY CHARLES KENNY | AUGUST 8, 2011

Greening It Alone

The world is building a low-carbon global economy -- with or without the United States.

BY CHARLES KENNY | AUGUST 1, 2011

Famine Is a Crime

Civilization has defeated mass starvation. So why are so many Somalis dying of hunger?

BY CHARLES KENNY | JULY 25, 2011

The Price Is Right

How the world can buy its way out of poverty for just $100 billion.

BY CHARLES KENNY | JULY 18, 2011