On World Government

Tony Blair gave his farewell speech to the World Economic Forum at Davos on Sunday. According to the Washington Post, he will probably step down as Britain’s Prime Minister this summer. In his speech, he outlined the need for global government based on “global values” in order to combat three of the world’s biggest challenges: world trade, climate change, and Africa.

Blair’s speech is compelling. He is an astute global leader and he defends the neo-conservative nation building agenda far more eloquently than most of his American counterparts.

But just what are the values on which he proposes to base the wielding of power by global alliances? Blair acknowledges what he calls “narratives” that are opposed to “tolerance, freedom, openness and justice for all.” Two of those are the “perversion of Islam” championed by al-Quaeda and other radical terrorists and the other is national selfishness.

Not every country in the world wants what Blair and Bush have to offer. It is naïve to think that if international institutions were fine-tuned, suddenly the United Nations would have the power to impose democratic self-government in countries gripped by generations of poverty and dictatorial leadership. If Iraq has taught us anything it is that you can’t force a nation to make good decisions.

Computers and Credit in Africa

I just came across the blog of a guy named Aaron Childs who is working with the Peace Corps in Togo. He is raising money to build a community computer center where people will be able to use computers for free (or very cheaply) and where classes will be provided for people to learn things like web design and programming. He is partnering with a local private school that has agreed to maintain the center once he gets it built and he is applying for a grant from the Peace Corps and using his blog to raise the money he needs to build the place initially. He says it will cost about $10,000 to build. I'm very impressed with the idea.

Aaron is not alone in his efforts to help the poor in Africa. Accion Internationl offers micro credit loans in The Republic of Benin, a country that borders Togo. According to its website, Accion currently has 36,758 clients in Benin and the average loan balance is of $1,007. Muhammad Yunus, one of the great pioneers of micro credit, is quoted as saying "The poor themselves can create a poverty-free world . . . all we have to do is free them from the chains that we have put around them." Micro credit could be one way to remove those chains.

The problems of the world's poor can leave us disheartened. NPR recently ran a discouraging series on Africa's developmental problems which reminded me how many times I've asked my friends the, admittedly, impossible question "What the heck are we going to do for Africa?"

I sure don't know what the answer is, but it is encouraging that people like Aaron Childs and Accion International are working for solutions.