World In Review Articles

Precarious topography, political turmoil, and a struggling global economy are tough conditions for any state, let alone a young democracy of 140 million citizens. In light of these problems, Bangladesh’s sustained economic growth becomes all the more impressive. Over the past five years, Bangladesh has enjoyed an average real GDP growth of six percent. Labor-intensive industries, in particular textiles, have fueled growth as Bangladesh’s tremendous reserves of cheap, low-skill labor have attracted foreign investment. Educational attainment rates are on the rise and Bangladesh has a particularly vibrant political culture, as a vast majority of citizens vote.

The year 2010 leaves the world with just five years before the  targeted achievement of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. Though time will tell if ongoing efforts prove sufficient, the goals of fighting disease, eradicating poverty and hunger, and pushing for environmental sustainability, at least, seem to be on track for success. Reducing gender-skewed death rates is another story. According to 2010’s Millennium Development Goals Report, of the eight goals under discussion, the fifth—that of decreasing the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters and achieving universal access to reproductive health—appears farthest from being accomplished.

When President Woodrow Wilson set foot on French soil after his trip across the Atlantic to the Paris Peace Conference, he carried with him a new age of US foreign policy. No longer could the United States count on the natural barrier of its two oceans to protect it. No longer could the nation bury its head in the sand to ignore happenings in Europe, despite how hard some Americans, including famed aviator Charles Lindbergh, would try.