“If you had a billion dollars to spend, how could you best help the world?” It is a question I hear a lot, and with the intensification of the conflict in Ukraine, it has only become more urgent. There is a philosophical movement, Effective Altruism, devoted to this issue, but mostly the debate about charity has been set in a world with a relatively stable geopolitical order. How should war change the answers?
I don’t know how best to help the immediate victims in Ukraine, but I have some ideas about how the conflict should change broader philanthropic priorities. In times of war, it is all the more important to focus altruistic efforts on two issues: food and migration.
During wartime, basic human needs become more pressing, most of all food. For instance, Ukraine supplies much of the world’s grain, including to many of the world’s poorer countries. The largest importers of Ukrainian grain are Egypt, Turkey, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Pakistan, and in percentage terms Yemen, Libya and Lebanon are especially dependent. To the extent the conflict and sanctions disrupt Russia as well, Russia is not only a major grain exporter but also the largest exporter of fertilizer.
