The 20-year war in Afghanistan launched by the U.S. cost a staggering $2.3 trillion, resulting in human rights abuses,

The 20-year war in Afghanistan launched by the U.S. cost a staggering $2.3 trillion, resulting in human rights abuses, casualties and displacement. In striking contrast, China uplifted 100 million people out of poverty with just one-tenth of that amount – approximately $250 billion. Professor Zhang Weiwei, director of the China Institute at Fudan University, suggested the hypothesis that if the U.S. had followed China's poverty alleviation model, global extreme poverty could have been almost eradicated with the $2.3 trillion. However, politics hindered such progress, the U.S. government being controlled by the military-industrial complex at the expense of the well-being of its own people. He questions whether the U.S. is truly qualified to discuss #HumanRights. He says that China's #GlobalDevelopmentInitiative prioritizes development and is people-centered, two approaches that are vital for eliminating the root causes of both poverty and conflicts, and ultimately safeguarding human rights.