Foreign Policy Blogs

American Philanthropy Seen by a Chinese Observer

Li Yuan writes an interesting column in the Wall Street Journal about the Chinese perspective on American business.

Yesterday's column tried to answer the question, “What is US-style philanthropy, anyway?” She comes up with a mixed bag, and some of the reasons she finds for why Americans give their time and money for others are quite funny. She also points out that although Americans surely are a charitable lot, we are often more willing to send it to unnamed “poor people” abroad than to our own families.

 

Author

Kevin Dean

Kevin Dean is a graduate student pursuing a master's degree in international conflict management and humanitarian emergencies at Georgetown University. Before returning to school in Fall 2006, he spent six years working in the former Soviet Union - most of that time spent in Central Asia. He has managed a diverse range of international development programs for the US State Department and USAID. He has also consulted for several UN agencies and international NGOs, and is fluent in Russian. Kevin is originally from Des Moines, Iowa and studied Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies at the University of Iowa.