The world today is more secure, prosperous, and free than it was 50 years ago, but an effective Western alliance is vital if we're going to sustain that progress. Western Leadership Remains Vital

A Good Half-Century and a Bad One: 

What Will the Next 50 Years Be Like?

By Paul Wolfowitz

Even at its best, the world is becoming a more complicated place.

Well, first, recall that just a little more than 50 years ago, on October 22, 1962, President Kennedy announced to the world that the Soviet Union was installing nuclear-armed missiles on the island of Cuba.

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Second, the world is vastly more prosperous today than it was 50 years ago, even though much poverty remains. When I became the head of the U.S. State Department Policy Planning Staff in 1981, we were asked to take charge of the portfolio of issues concerning “North-South relations.” That term “North-South,” and the accompanying “North-South divide,” described what was then thought to be a permanent division of the world between rich countries and poor countries. People had different explanations for that division — whether it was cultural, structural, or political — but there was a prevailing skepticism that the poor countries would ever actually emerge from poverty.
There was a prevailing skepticism that the poor countries would ever actually emerge from poverty.


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