intractabilities

what drives people

I confess to being dispirited this evening. Working at the General Accounting Office as a young staff auditor, the most basic rule we learned about the value of studying a policy question was that diagnosing the problem is insufficient: offering a realistic alternative to improve the conditions was our objective. I heartily endorse that, believe it or not, in everything I do.

I am struck by how many problems the world confronts right now. Problems long known as insoluable inNorthern Ireland and Sri Lanka appear solved as well as several insurgencies running their courses in places like Colombia, all of which is good. Much of the world has deeply concerning tensions but three major problems persist.