Contents
Foreword Introduction 13 16
Chapter 1: What Are the Problems Facing Developing Nations?
Chapter Preface Poverty Is a Serious Problem in Developing Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development
About half the world’s population lives on less than two dollars a day, most of them in developing countries, where they are condemned to lives of hunger, disease, illiteracy, joblessness, and hopelessness.
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Hunger and Malnutrition Are the Oldest Enemies of Developing Countries United Nations World Food Programme
Hunger and malnutrition are on the rise and pose the number one threat risk to health worldwide, particularly in developing countries where more than 800 million people are believed to be starving, undernourished, or not getting the proper nutrients for a healthy life.
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Lack of Health Funding Causes Millions to Die in Developing Countries Each Year Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
Infectious diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, influenza, pneumonia, cholera, dysentery, typhoid fever, and rotaviruses afflict the poor in developing countries because their public health systems are grossly underfunded.
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Air and Water Pollution Plague Poor, Developing Countries The Economist
Millions of people in developing countries die each year due to indoor and outdoor urban air pollution and water-related diseases—a situation caused by industrialization and exacerbated by unfair global trade rules.
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The Global Water Crisis Disproportionately Affects the Developing World Nicholas L. Cain and Peter H. Gleick
More than 1.2 billion people in developing countries lack access to clean water, and tens of millions are likely to die from tainted water and water-borne diseases by 2020 unless the global water crisis is averted.
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Government Corruption Seriously Hinders Economic Progress in Developing Nations Isabel Blackett
The limited incomes of many poor, developing nations are wasted or stolen because of high-level government corruption, helping to keep these countries mired in poverty and economic distress.
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Population Growth Could Overwhelm Many Already Struggling Developing Nations Michael Bowman
By 2050, the world population is expected to reach 9 billion, with most of the growth occurring in developing countries that are already struggling to provide for their current populations.
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Chapter 2: Will Globalization Help Developing Nations?
Chapter Preface Yes: Globalization Will Help Developing Nations 63
Global Trade Has Brought Economic Growth to Developing Countries John L. Manzella
Since 1990, twenty-four developing countries have adopted free-trade policies, helping their economies to grow, and helping billions of people to escape extreme poverty.
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Freer Global Trade Could Eradicate Poverty and World Hunger John Nash and Donald Mitchell
Instead of trying to bolster domestic production of food in developing nations, global trade talks should lower barriers to trade in food products and provide for freer trade in order to raise the incomes of the poor and enable them to buy food.
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Globalization Provides Opportunities for Young People in Developing Nations Population Briefs
Globalization has brought better health and education and widespread access to media such as television, radio, and newspapers to young people in many developing countries, giving them a much greater chance to succeed than their parents’ generation, although poverty and other problems continue to pose substantial risk.
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No: Globalization Will Not Help Developing Nations Global Trade Is Unfair for Developing Countries Because of Agricultural Trade Barriers Moin Siddiqi
Global trade talks launched in 2001 presented an opportunity for all countries to reap the economic benefits of a worldwide trading system, but rich countries have refused to eliminate trade barriers and subsidies for agricultural products, denying developing countries access to this important market.
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Free Trade Alone Is Not a Panacea for Developing Countries Sebastian Mallaby
Globalized trade has harmed many poor countries by subjecting them to overwhelming competition, sometimes hurting the poorest groups or regions most, but trade can be beneficial if it is backed up by complementary policies such as development aid.
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Chapter 3: Can Democracy Succeed in Developing Nations?
Chapter Preface Yes: Democracy Can Succeed in Developing Nations Democracy Is the Path to a Safer and Better World George W. Bush
People everywhere are capable of freedom, and peaceful nations must promote democracy in developing countries because representative government will protect minorities, secure the rights of labor, raise the status of women, and promote global peace and security.
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Islam Is Compatible with Democracy Helle Dale
The 2005 elections in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories, and the democratically elected governments in Turkey and Indonesia show that ordinary Muslims are eager to vote and want their concerns to be heard.
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President Bush’s Mideast Democracy Policy Could Succeed Duncan Currie
Although the Iraq insurgency continues unabated, President George W. Bush’s plan to promote democracy in Iraq and throughout the Arab world could dramatically reform Arab politics and lessen the appeal of militant Islam, but these results may take decades to achieve.
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No: Democracy Cannot Succeed in Developing Nations Democratic Policies Are Contributing to Political and Economic Instability in Many Developing Countries John Mulaa
In many developing nations that have embraced democracy in recent years, majority ethnic groups or populations have used elections to dislodge affluent minorities who have dominated in the past, creating dangerous social, economic, and political instability.
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Elections Alone Will Not Create Democratic States Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and Nir Boms
Although a number of Middle Eastern countries have accepted certain tenets of democracy, such as regular elections, the governments elected in many of these countries continue to violate citizens’ human rights, political liberties, and religious freedom, calling into question the U.S. push for democratization.
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The Prospects for Democracy in Iraq Are Dim Charley Reese
President George W. Bush’s plan to spread democracy in the Middle East will fail because democratic ideas and traditions, such as civilian rule, freedom of speech and press, and individual rights, do not exist in Iraq or other Arab cultures and cannot be implanted quickly.
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The United States Is Not Advocating Genuine Democracy Ghali Hassan
The United States promotes democracy only when it fits with U.S. security and economic interests; more often, the United States has historically supported brutal dictators or, as in Iraq, used propaganda of building democracy as a cover for a war to acquire control of Iraq and its resources.
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Chapter 4: How Should Industrialized Nations Aid the Developing World?
Chapter Preface Developed Nations Must Increase Foreign Aid to Help End World Poverty Silicon Jack
Rich countries must increase development aid to poor, developing countries to enable them to finance cleanwater projects, sanitation, food, medicine, housing and school lunches; such efforts could lift millions out of extreme poverty and foster political stability around the world.
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Foreign Aid Alone Will Not Help Developing Countries Eliminate Poverty Raghuram Rajan
There is no evidence that foreign aid produces economic growth, but rich countries can help create the conditions for economic growth by imposing conditions on aid and reducing impediments to growth, such as trade barriers, corruption, and inadequate technology.
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Cancellation of Developing Countries’ Debts Is Necessary to Cut Global Poverty Sarah Anderson
Full cancellation of the foreign debts of all heavily indebted developing countries is critical to allow them to care for their poor citizens, and such an effort would also reap benefits for rich countries.
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Agricultural Trade Reform Is the Key to Reducing World Poverty The World Bank
Rich countries must reduce their agricultural trade protections to help developing countries, because agricultural expansion is one of the best ways to reduce poverty in rural areas, where two-thirds of the populations of developing countries live.
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Fighting Corruption in Developing Nations Is Essential to Promote Economic Development and Reduce Poverty U.S. Agency for International Development
Fighting the scourge of government corruption is necessary to protect resources for the poor, enhance economic development, and support democracy in developing countries; it is also important to U.S. national security.
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Redistribution of the World’s Wealth Is Necessary to End World Poverty Sam Pizzigati
Recent studies have shown that the world’s wealth is concentrated among a relative few, and that redistribution of that wealth is necessary, in addition to economic development, in order to lift the 1 billion people living in extreme poverty and prevent a human development disaster.
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Organizations to Contact Bibliography Index
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