America has spent more rebuilding Afghanistan than it spent rebuilding Europe under the Marshall Plan

[L_Mariachi]

@Glaurung

The difference, of course, is that the European countries helped by the marshall plan had functional pre-existing governmental and social traditions and institutions in place, and governments that were seen as legitimate and that were organized to more or less function for the good of the nation.

Another important detail is that we didn’t start rebuilding until we’d finished winning the war. There wasn’t a Nazi guerrilla network in control of 40% of Europe running around blowing things up.