Trump's Message to Troubled Developing Countries? Figure it Out On Your Own
In 2018, President Donald Trump asked, "Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?" That not-so-subtle implication—poor people from poor countries are inferior to rich people from rich countries—properly outraged most people. But the question contains an uncomfortable truth. Many countries are indeed terrible places to live, especially for those on the bottom rungs of the socio-economic ladder. There's no official definition of Trump's "shithole," but we know which ones he means. Countries that are poor, violent and mostly brown. Guatemala. Sudan. Yemen. Myanmar. Niger. Haiti. Bangladesh. Pakistan. Although most of the countries that fit Trump's definition are in sub-Saharan Africa.
Even as worldwide well-being rises, these troubled countries fall further and further behind. Nothing we do seems to help. Over the last 50 years, developed nations have poured over $3 trillion dollars into official development assistance for developing nations. No one knows how much more has been provided in humanitarian and military aid, or how much has come from private organizations. And yet desperate people continue to mass on the U.S. southern border.
It is tempting to build a wall and tell developing countries to figure it out on their own, like our president would have it. Except we can't. We have no way to insulate ourselves from their problems: Deforestation. AIDS. Ebola. Terrorism. Drugs. Gangs. Illegal immigration. Ecological disasters. Any more than they have a way to protect themselves from ours: Climate change. Worker abuse. Toxic waste. Sexploitation. No wall will keep our worlds apart.
So what do we do? Increase aid funding for the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals? Tax breaks to encourage private investment?
Preferential access to the western markets? Expand Peace Corps? All of the above and more? In a career in international business, I have worked in dozens of countries in Europe, Australasia, Africa and the Americas. I've worked for the world's largest corporations as well as NGOs like the World Bank. In the process, I've talked to literally hundreds of development experts, executives and government leaders about development. None believe more aid will work.
To find out what would work, I headed to Africa. In particular, Sierra Leone, a small country on the west coast of Africa famous for Ebola and blood diamonds. It is one of the poorest nations in the world, 184 out of 189 on the U.N.'s Human Development Index, far below countries like Haiti and Iran. For centuries, Sierra Leone has been the epitome of hopelessness. In 1827, popular author Frederick Chamier wrote he'd travelled widely and, "never knew and heard mention of so villainous and iniquitous a place."
Robert Kaplan, 25 years ago, used it as the proof case in his influential article "The Coming Anarchy." Central America is well-off compared to Sierra Leone.
But it is also a country that could be a model for economic revival.
And I had another reason for focusing on Sierra Leone. I lived there in the Peace Corps almost a half-century ago. I have a baseline from which
