The global impact of the Gulf countries is not limited to oil. This region is a hub of the international economy and if it decides to focus on its defense and to start pulling investments and to stop its [economic] engagement with the international community, the effect will be felt in every household in the world.
UK-led action to address spiralling national debt in some of the world's poorest countries could more than offset the impact of UK aid cuts, producing net funding gains across water, sanitation, education and health, new research has found.
Bill Gates has invested billions over the last two decades to help fight climate change. But in a new blog post, he argues that world is too focused on cutting short-term emissions. "The doomsday outlook is causing much of the climate community to focus too much on near-term emissions goals," he writes, calling for a "strategic pivot" to focus on "improving lives" by focusing development dollars more on agriculture and disease and poverty eradication.
After the Second World War, the United States approved funding - which would eventually rise to more than $12 billion - for the rebuilding of western Europe. Known as the Marshall Plan, it was not merely an act of generosity. It was a calculated effort to rebuild economies, stabilize democracies and contain the spread of extremism. Building resilient societies abroad will similarly make people safer in their own nations today.