Ask people what they want, and then listen when they tell you? Therein lies another problem: the perceived cost of improvements is modified by the perceptions

Ask people what they want, and then listen when they tell you? Therein lies another problem: the perceived cost of improvements is modified by the perceptions of "deservedness" on the part of the people paying. Compare post-WWII to post-WOT investment. The Marshall Plan et al. were correctly perceived as being less expensive than the alternative of letting wounds fester and courting another war, but I'd argue that this relatively clear-eyed approach was influenced by who the investment was going to (Westerners, European, white people) and what it was to be used for (returning Europe to its former glory after utter destruction). There has been no talk of that kind of investment in Iraq/Syria/Afghanistan/Libya, whatever their people may desire.