You’ve heard it from us before: Good intentions are not enough.

Now hear it from a piece in the Columbia Journalism Review, “The Obscured Continent,” which takes a look at the special issue of Vanity Fair devoted to Africa (HT: Poynter Online). The piece begins by depicting the two major approaches to international development (compare to my “Henderson” model).

“In the end, it’s hard to avoid the feeling that the only thing it actually achieves is to convince us of those good intentions. Nothing more,” concludes CJR reporter Gal Beckerman. “And that, for Africans, both those who desire help and those trying to help themselves, is not even close to enough.”

Or as Etienne Gilson wrote, “Piety is no substitute for technique.”