I’ve always felt like education, dollar for dollar, could be far more powerful and long-lasting than bombs in war driven by ideological differences.
It’s nice to see that someone else thinks this too! Though it’s a bit vague:
The United States last month announced $150 million in military assistance for Yemen to fight extremists. In contrast, it costs just $50 to send a girl to public school for a year — and little girls like Nujood may prove more effective than missiles at defeating terrorists.
That appears in a New York Times article about Nujood and her new book about being ten years old, and divorced, in Yemen.
I’ve never thought about how mistreatment of women could be tied to extremism. There’s a loose connection between the poor education of women and polygamy. If you have lots of households with one husband and two wives, then you have lots of single, desperate men. Which in turn feeds a male-dominated culture where education of women is supressed. Perhaps that is a simplistic presentation, but sometimes simple is good.
But one thing seems clear to me: Books, not bombs, give the loudest and longest lasting boom!