How do you restore a poverty torn country? (Read Details)

Lets say I took over Somalia, and I wanted to stop the poverty, and make better homes. But how? Do I just destroy the whole city, and rebuild it all?

It would take more than just demolishing buildings and rebuilding them.

Most poverty stricken countries have a grossly unequal distribution of wealth. In many, more than 90 percent of the wealth is in the hands of ten percent of the population. I would work toward creating an economic middle class.

There is more to it than simply taxing the rich to support the poor. The key is education. Statistics show disparity in income is roughly proportional to the level of education. Countries with such dire conditions all have a large chunk of the population that is uneducated. Start a system to educate the population and give them the freedom to benefit from their work.

Some countries like Somalia have cultural issues that would inhibit such a plan. That would have to be overcome. The success would depend on the motives of your leadership. The greatest obstacle in all of the very poor nations is that the leadership sees balancing the wealth as a threat to their power so they fear they would lose control if they educated the poor. It would take a sincere leader with honest motives to do what's best for the country rather than themselves; qualities that are hard to find in politicians.

Hon, the US military couldn't do much with Somalia! The politics there are incredibly complicated. Dude, they've pirates and warlords and such. Maybe start an NGO instead?

If I had an ironclad answer to that, I'd win the Nobel Peace Prize!

I agree with BrightStar and Rob. You'd have to dismantle the internal political and socio-economic structures that necessitate the poverty.