Jeffrey D. Sachs – A Famous Economist, UN Broker, and Defender of the Tyranny of the UAE and China
The Intercept website revealed that the UAE paid millions of dollars to an international mediator to whitewash its crimes and violations, and to conduct research and studies that show advanced indicators of the quality of life in its cities.
The website explained that efforts to promote prosperity, happiness and tolerance in the UAE would have failed without the efforts of the former Neo-liberal economist and the United Nations broker, who has never lost his greed for power, Jeffrey D. Sachs (67 years old).
The investigative website indicated that “the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, known as SDSN, led by Sachs, has received at least $3 million from the UAE.”
UN Broker
Jeffrey Sachs, Professor and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, and head of SDSN, who received huge bribes from the UAE, estimated at about $3 million, to improve its position in the Global Happiness Index, as reported by The Intercept on December 29, 2021.
Sachs helped Abu Dhabi to legitimize a repressive government and improve its image before the countries of the world.
He sharpened the happiness campaigns in the country, delivered numerous speeches, and described the rulers of the UAE as idealistic and wise.
Sachs does not receive a monthly wage from the SDSN, according to his tax models, but the nonprofit helped fund Sachs' research at Columbia University, according to the Earth Institute's spending records and tax returns.
Jeffrey Sachs is one of 17 celebrity advocates of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals tasked by its Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to promote the lofty goals, such as: promoting access to education, combating the climate crisis, and ending hunger by 2030.
In addition, Sachs has been appointed to a variety of topics outside the United Nations, such as: power engineering and COVID-19.
He chairs the Lancet Commission tasked with tackling the economic and human costs of the Coronavirus pandemic.
“The UN broker has always described the financial support for Abu Dhabi as a contribution to United Nations efforts to promote global use of happiness and well-being indicators, as Sachs enjoys long-term relationships with Emirati leaders,” the investigation of the Intercept website stated.
“Sachs has ignored human rights abuses in the UAE in return for regularly receiving money from its government, including the escape of Princess Latifa, daughter of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and Vice President of the UAE,” the investigation also revealed.
On his part, Matthew Hedges, a British researcher arbitrarily arrested in the UAE in 2018 for 7 months, said about Sachs' work with the Emirati regime: “It is a whitewashing of human rights violations.”
Hedges, now a postgraduate researcher at the University of Exeter, UK, added: “The second time you start taking money from tyrannical countries to falsify indicators of happiness among the people of those countries, remember that the UAE is, in fact, more like a frightening and corrupt country than an ordinary country.”
As for Jeffrey Sachs' ignoring and support for human rights violations in the UAE, the Emirati judicial and legal advisor, Mohammed bin Saqr al-Zaabi said in a statement to Al-Estiklal: “The lives of some people have become centered around the absence of higher values that govern human behavior and the greed to raise money, regardless of the suffering of others around them, and so is the case with Jeffrey Sachs and many others.”
“All the UAE does is spend huge amounts of money on mercenaries such as Jeffrey Sachs, SDSN and many others, but as we see that all mercenary projects in the world fail, even after a while, especially if they think they can fool the whole world forever,” al-Zaabi added.
Defender of Tyrants
The other face of Jeffrey Sachs has emerged in his recent underestimation of concerns about China's crackdown on Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
During an interview in January 2021, Sachs sidestepped questions about China's repression of the Uighurs by alluding to the gross human rights violations committed by the United States.
Rights groups indicated that “Sachs took the same position as the Chinese Foreign Ministry, as a way to avoid discussions about China's mistreatment of Uyghurs.”
“Sachs betrayed his foundation's message by downplaying the perspective of those who have been oppressed by the Chinese government,” they also said.
The Intercept quoted Aryeh Neier, co-founder of Human Rights Watch, in its investigation, who oversaw funding for Sachs' efforts at the turn of the millennium: “I've always had the feeling that Jeffrey Sachs is not a human rights person, and that he was often a defender of tyrannical governments.”
SDSN has offices in the UAE and China, outposts on six continents, and Sachs constantly shows himself in events around the world.
The organization's board of directors includes in its membership official officials from the UAE and China, among them is the vice president of the China Development Research Foundation, which reports to China's State Council.
Sachs also holds a consulting position at Tsinghua University in Beijing and is located in an institute created to advance China's foreign policy goals within the United Nations, but this does not appear on his resume, public LinkedIn profile, or resume published outside of China.
Most of the UAE money that goes to support Saks' work on falsifying happiness indicators in the UAE comes from the office of the ruler of Dubai, who previously donated it to SDSN between 2017 and 2021.
In 2020, 16 months after the dismemberment of the dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in his country's consulate in Istanbul, Sachs traveled to Riyadh to speak at a forum hosted by a Saudi investment firm.
An Eventful Biography
Jeffrey Sachs was born in Detroit, Michigan, USA, on November 5, 1954. He is married to Sonia Ehrlich, a pediatrician, they have three children and live in New York City.
Sachs attended Harvard University in 1972 and earned a bachelor's degree with honors in 1976. He also obtained master's and doctorate degrees from the same university in 1978 and 1980, respectively.
Then, Sachs spent more than 20 years as a professor at Harvard University.
Between 2001 and 2018, Sachs served as Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan (2001-2007), Ban Ki-moon (2016-2018), and Antonio Guterres (2017-2018).
Sachs served as director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University from 2002 to 2016.
In 2016, Jeffrey Sachs stepped down as head of the Earth Institute, a research institute at Columbia University that has received Emirati support for nearly 9 years, in order to lead a smaller organization under his umbrella, SDSN.
He was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential world leaders in 2004, and Angelina Jolie made a documentary about him.
In the early 2010s, Sachs emerged as a strong progressive voice in the United States, and ran for president of the World Bank.
He even appeared at the Occupy Wall Street protests, alarming activists who recalled his Neo-Liberal past.
Sachs was awarded the 2015 Blue Planet Award, the leading global award for environmental leadership.
Sachs has visited more than 100 countries over the past 30 years, advising dozens of heads of state and government on economic strategy in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Pope Francis also appointed Sachs to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. Sachs worked with Pope John Paul II, and also served as an economic advisor to former Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
Sachs has authored and edited several books, including three New York Times bestsellers: The End of Poverty (2005), Common-Wealth: The Economics for a Crowded Planet (2008), and The Price of Civilization (2011).
He recently published a book titled The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions (2020).
