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CIAO DATE: 08/02
From the Editors
This journal is about sustainable development * , specifically the strategies and responsibilities that the United States government believes are critical if we are to fulfill the hopes for a decent life for the world's poorest people.
The U.S. government believes that developed nations have a responsibility to provide the people of developing nations with the tools they need to seize the opportunities of the global economy — opportunities that come from international aid, foreign investment, domestic capital, and trade. To use those tools effectively, however, developing nations need to adopt political, legal, and economic policies that make development successful.
Too often vital resources, sometimes made available with the help of other nations, are lost to the developing countries. Roads that should make market access possible for agricultural entrepreneurs are not completed, succumbing to inadequate financial planning or the diversion of funding. An ambitious plan to provide potable water founders when a change of administration alters the political priorities that shape budget decisions.
International development experts, too, must make better use of resources. Projects must be respectful of environmental interests and the realities of the market while not encumbering the developing nations with overwhelming debt.
We can and must do better. This August's World Summit on Sustainable Development offers great promise because so many of the critical actors in the development process are dedicated to working as a world community to address the challenges ahead.
Notes
Note *: Sustainable Development, as defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission), is "the capacity to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Development needs are now understood to go beyond economic issues to encompass the full range of social and political issues that define the overall quality of life. Back