Reckoning with the World We’ve Built

<div class="header alignfull header--article header--min-height-full has-background has-tonal-black-background-color"> <div class="header__layout"> <div class="header__content"> <div class="header__metadata"><div class="header__metas"><div class="header__meta header__meta--taxonomy header__meta--tax-category"> Blog Posts, and Videos</div></div></div> <h1 class="header__title has-h3-variant">Archives</h1> <div class="header__metadata"><div class="header__metas"><div class="favorite-block"> <button class="favorite" data-id="290661" data-state="" title="Favorites are not currently available" disabled><span class="favorite__on">Unfavorite</span><span class="favorite__off">Favorite</span><svg class="svg svg--svg-assets-svg-icon-bookmark" role="img" height="15" width="11"><use xlink:href="#svg-assets-svg-icon-bookmark" /></svg></button></div> <div class="header__meta header__meta--date"> August 11, 2026</div> <div class="header__meta header__meta--taxonomy header__meta--tax-program_tax"> Aspen Global Leadership Network</div></div></div> </div> </div> <figure class="header__media" role="presentation"> <img decoding="async" src="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Gayle-Dele-Photo.png" alt="2026 Resnick Aspen Action Forum - Reckoning with the World We&#039;ve Built" width="1760" height="990" srcset="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Gayle-Dele-Photo.png 1760w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Gayle-Dele-Photo-800x450.png 800w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Gayle-Dele-Photo-1500x844.png 1500w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Gayle-Dele-Photo-768x432.png 768w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Gayle-Dele-Photo-1536x864.png 1536w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Gayle-Dele-Photo-1600x900.png 1600w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Gayle-Dele-Photo-1200x675.png 1200w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Gayle-Dele-Photo-1024x576.png 1024w, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Gayle-Dele-Photo-300x169.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1760px) 100vw, 1760px" loading="eager" class="header__image" style="object-position: 52% 26%"> <span class="header__overlay" style="opacity: 0.8"></span> </figure> </div> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio" style="margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--small)"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <iframe loading="lazy" title="Reckoning with the World We&amp;apos;ve Built | 2026 Resnick Aspen Action Forum" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PulgO-PTH7k?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Former USAID Administrator <strong>Gayle Smith</strong> and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist <strong>Dele Olojede</strong>, Founder &amp; Host, Africa in the World (Africa Leadership Initiative – South Africa), have spent careers bearing witness to some of the worst moments in recent history — the Ethiopian famine, the Rwandan genocide, and war in the Balkans — first as journalists, later as humanitarian leaders. In this conversation, they reflected on what it meant to see atrocity up close, the political and bureaucratic language used to avoid responding to it, and the toll of carrying what could not be unseen.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The conversation also turned to the present: the recent dismantling of USAID, the erosion of institutions built over decades, and the fear of growing indifference. But both speakers pushed back against despair, pointing to real historical progress, from the end of apartheid in South Africa to global health breakthroughs, as evidence that choosing to act, together, still works.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/reckoning-with-the-world-weve-built/">Reckoning with the World We&#8217;ve Built</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org">Aspen Institute</a>.</p>