Malala Yousafzai Tells Obama to Do Diplomacy with Books, Not Guns

In a talk with Ronan Farrow, living inspiration and recent Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai discussed the many encounters she’s had with world leaders, including President Barack Obama. “It’s very important to reach those people and [tell] them that it is their responsibility to contribute to education and consider it important and make it their top priority.”

Yousafzai continued, “When I was meeting President Obama, I shared two or three things with him. Number one was that the money that is spent on weapons and on guns and on wars — if that money was spent on education, it could really change the world. The best way to fight agains terrorism is to invest in education…My message was very simple. I said instead of sending guns, send books. Instead of sending weapons, send teachers.”

She then described Obama’s response as “very political.”

Earlier this month, the U.S. completed its 400th drone strike in Yousafzai’s home country of Pakistan. According to The Independent, the U.S. drone attacks have claimed 2,379 lives since 2004. Only 4% of victims have definitively been identified as al-Qaeda terrorists.