The Swede glared at him for a moment, as though the American were being deliberately dense. “Dr. Crawford,” he said, “when the African Development Project was first begun we had high hopes. Seemingly all Reunited Nations members were being motivated by high humanitarian reasons. Our task was to bring all Africa to a level of progress comparable to the advanced nations. It was more than a duty, it was a crying need, a demand. Africa is and has been throughout history a have-not continent. While Europe, the Americas, Australia and now even Asia industrialized and largely conquered man’s old socio-economic problems, Africa lagged behind. The reasons were manifold: colonialism, lingering tribal society … various others. Now that very lagging has become a potentially explosive situation. With the coming of antibiotics and other breakthroughs in medicine, the African population is growing with an all but geometric progression. So fast is it growing, that what advances were being made did less than keep up the level of per capita gross product. It was bad enough to have a per capita gross product averaging less than a hundred dollars a year, but it actually sank below that point.”

Homer Crawford was nodding.

Zetterberg continued the basic lecture with which he knew the other was already completely familiar. “So the Reunited Nations took on the task of advancing as rapidly as possible the African economy and all the things that must be done before an economy can be advanced. It was self-preservation, I suppose. Have-not nations, not to speak of have-not races and have-not continents, have a tendency eventually to explode upon their wealthier neighbors.”

The Swede pressed his lips together before continuing. “Unfortunately the Reunited Nations, as the United Nations and the League of Nations before it, is composed of members each with its own irons in the fire. Each with its own plans and schemes.” His voice was bitter now.