Every nation on earth requires goods and services in order to function. Unfortunately, all goods and services cost money, and in some cases, the nations requiring the products are not able to pay when they purchased, leading to debt. I believe that debt reduction initiatives are critical to help bridge the gap between First and Third World nations. However, I do not think that all nations should be forgiven of their debt: there needs to be criteria for debt forgiveness that must be met before the lending nation should absolve their debts. The nation looking to be forgiven of their debt must be carefully screened and studied to ensure that the decision will be in the best interest of the people. Debt forgiveness should be looked at very seriously in every instance and it should be considered at the highest levels of government. This will give a significant advantage to the indebted nations as it will give them a chance at making the progression into the First World.
English: Former President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein,...
English: Image from Iraqi state television. Reprod...
DebtDebt forgiveness will allow the governments of nations to deal more acutely with hunger, poverty, corruption and health-related issues.
The Doctrine of Odious Debts was created to further international finance by limiting the ability of governments to repudiate debts. Under the doctrine, three conditions must be present before a state can refuse to pay a debt: 1) The debt must have been incurred without the consent of the people of the state and 2) the debt can not have benefited the public in that state and 3) the lender must have been aware of these two conditions. I believe that this is a great programme because, in cases like Iraq, it will remove the burden from the citizens for paying for their oppression. This will allow the Iraqis to concentrate on building...