Quotes

There is no escaping our obligations: our moral obligations as a wise leader and good neighbor in the interdependent community of free nations – our economic obligations as the wealthiest people in a world of largely poor people, as a nation no longer dependent upon the loans from abroad that once helped us develop our own economy – and our political obligations as the single largest counter to the adversaries of freedom.

President John F. Kennedy; from his speech to USAID directors and deputy directors; June
8, 1962

We live at a time of the greatest development progress among the global poor in the history of the world.

Steven Radelet, The Great Surge: the Ascent of the Developing World (2015)

We are living in a world of great wealth. We need not accept the fallacy perpetuated by the rich that global resources available are quite so ‘modest’….

Jeffrey Sachs; “The Case for Aid”, Foreign Policy (January 21, 2014)

Personal freedoms and participatory governance are not just adjuncts to development—nice to have but not really necessary – they are central to human and societal development.

Steve Radelet, The Great Surge: the Ascent of the Developing World (2015)

It is not a relationship between two equal partners. The conversation on the giving side is backed up by money. The conversation on the receiving side is motivated by needs.

Haley Swedlund (quoting a senior Tanzanian government official); the Development Dance:
How Donors and Recipients Negotiate the Delivery of Foreign Aid (2017)