Economic freedom has a greater impact than foreign aid in helping people in poor nations escape poverty.

If poor governments are truly creditworthy and are following policies good for economic growth, they can sell bonds. If poor countries follow good economic policies, companies there can tap into global capital markets. Poor countries generally do not actually face difficulty raising capital because they are poor, they face difficulty raising capital because their governments have poor economic policies.

There may be cases for targeted aid to be used in certain particular moral cases (such as certain communicable diseases, natural disasters, etc.) But there is little evidence for the effectiveness of foreign aid on poverty reduction.

In a globalized world of modern economic wealth creation, wars are generally economic losses. The war in Iraq has shown that cultures must be ready to accept the non-zero-sum nature of economics before they can become effective democracies, or races, sects, and other in-groups will contest for zero-sum wealth and political power.

The US economic embargo on Cuba has achieved nothing. It should be ended immediately. It does not hurt the Fidel Castro government, and it may actually lead to further Cuban support for it. It is likely that extensive economic intercourse between Americans and Cubans will only highlight the failings of Cuba's command economy. Regardless, Americans should not be denied of profit from trading with Cuba, especially given the lack of effectiveness of the embargo. (Also see The Case Against the Cuban Embargo)