This is CBSI on the World on John Batch with Matt Steinglas, the European correspondent

of the Economist magazine, who has explicated what the Marshall Plan was many, many decades

ago.

Now the talk of the Marshall Plan for Ukraine following the fighting when it stops as it

did in Europe in 1945.

What does that mean for the challenges ahead?

Matt we come to first objection that I find in your piece of talk in Europe is why because

it's just going to be another Afghanistan, another Iraq, all the money will be stolen.

What is the difference between Ukraine as we see it today and the aid that did not result

in success in Afghanistan and Iraq?

I think there are two things to think about there.

One is Ukraine is already a developed industrial economy with a functioning democratic government.

In Afghanistan we were trying to build a new nation in a country that had not been democratic

and it was basically an agrarian society and pouring tremendous amounts of money into

that society.

I think the US spent about $150 billion in aid there including defense and humanitarian aid.

And money into that society generated a tremendous amount of corruption.

A lot of money went to straight.

In Ukraine you're talking about a completely different situation.

You're putting money into functioning businesses, into functioning ministries that know how

to spend money, into infrastructure ministries that know how to build roads, ports, railroads

and so forth.

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