International Economist

Opinion here on Barbara Ward has ranged from the salutation of her 1957 honorary degree: "A charming lady whose respected voice and clear mind call the West to freedom through faith," to the more terse judgement from a younger faculty member: "She's vastly overrated."

In 1957 when she received her honorary degree, Barbara Ward--Lady Jackson in private life--had published her book Faith and Freedom and had just completed a term as Visiting Lecturer on Government. This year the noted corresponding editor of the Economist is back for her third spring in Cambridge. The visit is the result of a Carnegie Foundation Grant, administered through Radcliffe, making it possible for Miss Ward "to look into various aspects of economic assistance programs and their effectiveness in relation to American long-term policy." Work under the Grant causes her to divide her time between Washington, UN Headquarters in New York, and Cambridge.

"In Washington I'm pretty much exploring my way at the moment. For the first eighteen months of the work under the grant, I'll probably be concerned with knitting together Western assistance to India." India has just had two poorly organized five-year plans, she explains, and is about to develop a third. "There is no reason why a Marshall Plan Commission couldn't be set up to help the next plan," she says, and thereby help develop a better organized and potentially more successful program. "As neighbors, this is what we ought to do--not wait until there is a crisis, and then decide what we would do about it. When I think of how fat, of how comfortable we are, I think I see the writing on the wall."

Both Barbara Ward and her British husband, Commander Sir Robert G. A. Jackson, chairman of the Development Commission, Government of Ghana, "are interested in almost the same things," especially the developments of "young countries." Lady Jackson's work, which springs from "inner conviction," is more theoretical than her husband's; he is more interested in administrative problems, having had extensive experience in different countries throughout Asia and Africa.

Lady Jackson was educated at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Felixtowe, England, later at the Lycee Moliere and the Sorbonne, Paris, and Sommerville College, Oxford. She received her degree in "PP and E" (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics). Her book titles reflect her interest; among her published works are The West at Bay (1948), Policy for the West (1951), Faith and Freedom (1954), and Interplay of East and West (1957).

Her most recent book, Five Ideas that Change the World, was published within the past two months. "The origins of the book are interesting," she says. "The Prime Minister of Ghana asked me to lecture to the students at the University soon after Ghana achieved its independence in 1957. I attempted to explain that the experiences of Ghana, such as colonialism and industrialism, were part of the common experience of mankind. The book is pretty much the same as those lectures, only transcribed into readable English."

"The world is all set for four or five decades of revolutionary change, whether we like it or not," Miss Ward predicted. "This is inevitable due to the break-down of the old colonial system and a tremendous population rise, which will add some seven billion more people to the world by the turn of the century."

"Since the situation is inherently revolutionary, it plays right into the hands of the Communists. It's 'just their meat'. But instead of taking any active stand, the West has tended to take the policy of find the enemy's policy and then stop him." The Western powers ought to seek their own, more positive foreign policy. If they fail to do this, they will be unable to cope with the new world situation. "If you don't recognize reality, it will defeat you," she says.

"Actually, the Western peoples seem to have two dominant attitudes. First of all, they wish the Communists would roll up and disappear. Then they hope their allies would also roll up and disappear." Western people regard their relationships with other peoples as a "dismal duty," not a "startling opportunity." This negative attitude is "the projection on a national scale of what we think for ourselves," a desire to be left alone, a belief we can do best by ourselves. "It dates from the nursery. But it doesn't work on the human level, and it won't work on the international level."

The Berlin crisis is a perfect illustration of this attitude. When Khrushchev suggested that Berlin be made a free city, the Western powers should have answered with "screams of delight." They should have said, "At last you Russians realize the value of international control, such as the West has been advocating all along. Of course, you want East Berlin included in the change." Such an approach would show a more aggressive and effective policy, not a mere "contentment with the very miserable status quo."

Part of this aggressive new policy should take the form of an "organic link" between allied powers, including an "interlocking community of command." "Then there would be no fear of America pulling out of any operation, such as there is in Germany at present." This linkage should include all aspects of "common life," combining joint economic institutions and cultural links, such as common recognition of university degrees.

While at Harvard, Lady Jackson is mainly concerned with helping John K. Galbraith, professor of Economics, in his seminar on underdeveloped countries, Economics 287. In general, however, her work under the Carnegie Grant concerns both "the studying and propagating of ideas coming up about foreign relations," she explains. "Both Carnegie and I agreed that there are considerable ideas on the subject today, but few ways of projecting them."