The Trouble with Aid

Author: Jonathan Glennie
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN: 1848135017
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 190

Book Description
Africa is poor. If we send it money it will be less poor. It seems perfectly logical, doesn't it? Millions of people in the rich world, moved by images on television and appalled by the miserable conditions endured by so many in other countries, have joined campaigns to persuade their governments to double aid to Africa and help put an end to such shameful inequality. It seems simple. But it isn't. In this book, Jonathan Glennie argues that, along with its many benefits, government aid to Africa has often meant more poverty, more hungry people, worse basic services and damage to already precarious democratic institutions. Moreover, calls for more aid are drowning out pressure for action that would really make a difference for Africa’s poor. Rather than doubling aid to Africa, it is time to reduce aid dependency. Through an honest assessment of both the positive and negative consequences of aid, this book will show you why.

The Trouble with Africa

Author: Robert Calderisi
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1466887710
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310

Book Description
After years of frustration at the stifling atmosphere of political correctness surrounding discussions of Africa, long time World Bank official Robert Calderisi speaks out. He boldly reveals how most of Africa's misfortunes are self-imposed, and why the world must now deal differently with the continent. Here we learn that Africa has steadily lost markets by its own mismanagement, that even capitalist countries are anti-business, that African family values and fatalism are more destructive than tribalism, and that African leaders prey intentionally on Western guilt. Calderisi exposes the shortcomings of foreign aid and debt relief, and proposes his own radical solutions. Drawing on thirty years of first hand experience, The Trouble with Africa highlights issues which have been ignored by Africa's leaders but have worried ordinary Africans, diplomats, academics, business leaders, aid workers, volunteers, and missionaries for a long time. It ripples with stories which only someone who has talked directly to African farmers--and heads of state--could recount. Calderisi's aim is to move beyond the hand-wringing and finger-pointing which dominates most discussions of Africa. Instead, he suggests concrete steps which Africans and the world can take to liberate talent and enterprise on the continent.

Dead Aid

Author: Dambisa Moyo
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0374139563
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 209

Book Description
Debunking the current model of international aid promoted by both Hollywood celebrities and policy makers, Moyo offers a bold new road map for financing development of the world's poorest countries.

The Vulnerable Humanitarian

Author: Gemma Houldey
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000432556
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 154

Book Description
The Vulnerable Humanitarian challenges the prevalence of stress and burnout culture within the aid sector, laying bare the issues of power, agency, security and wellbeing that continue to trouble organisations and staff. Engaging and insightful, this book illustrates the problematic and unrealistic expectations of aid workers through the archetype of the perfect humanitarian, and considers why burnout is so endemic, yet so rarely acknowledged, within aid organisations. The book provides practical means through which staff and managers can reflect upon and discuss damaging organisational cultures and behaviours, and develop a more inclusive and caring work environment. Drawing on original academic research and interviews with national and international aid workers and development experts, the book proposes a feminist, anti-racist and decolonial agenda in challenging oppressive systems and structures within the sector. With extensive professional experience as an aid worker herself, Gemma Houldey also shares her own struggles with mental health and what she has learned from feminist practices for self- and collective care. Proposing new ways of addressing wellbeing that are sensitive to the multi-faceted personalities and lived experiences of people working on aid and development programmes, The Vulnerable Humanitarian is essential reading both for current aid sector employees and for prospective employees and students.

Global Public Investment

Author: Jonathan Glennie
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9780429356384
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 144

Book Description
International cooperation has never been more needed, but the current system of "aid" is outdated and ineffective. The Future of Aid calls for a wholesale restructuring of the aid project, a totally new approach fit for the challenges of the 21st century: Global Public Investment. Across the world, billions of people are struggling to get by in unequal and unsustainable societies, and international public finance, which should be part of the answer, is woefully deficient. Engagingly written by a well-known expert in the field, The Future of Aid calls for a series of paradigm shifts. From a narrow focus on poverty to a broader attack on inequality and sustainability. From seeing international public money as a temporary last resort, to valuing it as a permanent force for good. From North-South transfers to a collective effort, with all paying in and all benefitting. From outdated post-colonial institutions to representative decision-making. From the othering and patronising language of "foreign aid", to the empowering concept of Global Public Investment. Ten years ago, in The Trouble with Aid, Jonathan Glennie highlighted the dangers of aid dependency and the importance of looking beyond aid. Now he calls for a revolution in the way that we think about the role of public money to back up our ambitious global objectives. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, it is time for a new era of internationalism.

Doing Bad by Doing Good

Author: Christopher J Coyne
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804786119
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Book Description
An economics-focused analysis of why humanitarian relief efforts fail and how they can be remedied. In 2010, Haiti was ravaged by a brutal earthquake that affected the lives of millions. The call to assist those in need was heard around the globe. Yet two years later humanitarian efforts led by governments and NGOs have largely failed. Resources are not reaching the needy due to bureaucratic red tape, and many assets have been squandered. How can efforts intended to help the suffering fail so badly? In this timely and provocative book, Christopher J. Coyne uses the economic way of thinking to explain why this and other humanitarian efforts that intend to do good end up doing nothing or causing harm. In addition to Haiti, Coyne considers a wide range of interventions. He explains why the US government was ineffective following Hurricane Katrina, why the international humanitarian push to remove Muammar Gaddafi in Libya may very well end up causing more problems than prosperity, and why decades of efforts to respond to crises and foster development around the world have resulted in repeated failures. In place of the dominant approach to state-led humanitarian action, this book offers a bold alternative, focused on establishing an environment of economic freedom. If we are willing to experiment with aid—asking questions about how to foster development as a process of societal discovery, or how else we might engage the private sector, for instance—we increase the range of alternatives to help people and empower them to improve their communities. Anyone concerned with and dedicated to alleviating human suffering in the short term or for the long haul, from policymakers and activists to scholars, will find this book to be an insightful and provocative reframing of humanitarian action. Praise for Doing Bad by Doing Good “Coyne is to be congratulated for a book that strongly calls into question the conventional wisdom that we must look first to government to accomplish humanitarian ends.” —George Leef, Regulation Magazine “Coyne attempts to explain why conventional approaches to humanitarian aid and longer-term economic development have failed miserably . . . . Recommended.” —M. Q. Dao, Choice “Coyne offers a classic neo-liberal economic analysis to explain why the humanitarian project in its current state is doomed.” —Zoe Cormack, Times Literary Supplement

The Trouble with Canada ... Still

Author: William D. Gairdner
Publisher: BPS Books
ISBN: 1926645715
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 546

Book Description
Two decades ago The Trouble with Canada sparked a conservative renewal and inspired a generation. Now, in this completely revised update, William D. Gairdner rejoins the battle, showing that Canada suffered a disturbing regime change in the last quarter of the twentieth century and is now caught between two irreconcilable styles of government: top-down collectivism and bottom-up individualism. The result is a regime besotted with high taxation and big government, a welfare culture that rewards laziness, and a hug-a-thug mentality that betrays justice. In The Trouble with Canada ... Still! Gairdner puts familiar topics under a searing new light, and recent issues, such as immigration, diversity, and corruption of the law, are confronted head on, yielding many startling -- and sure to be controversial -- conclusions. This book is a clarion call to arms for Canada to examine and renew itself before it is too late.

The Trouble with Taiwan

Author: Kerry Brown
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1786995239
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Book Description
Taiwan is one of the great paradoxes of the international order. A place with its own flag, currency, government and military, but which most of the world does not recognise as a sovereign country. An island that China regards as a 'rebellious province', but which has managed to survive defiantly for decades. Now with its neighbour China a major power on the world stage and ally United States looking increasingly inward, Taiwan's position has never been more precarious. Kerry Brown and Kalley Wu Tzu-hui reveal how the island's shifting fortunes have been shaped by centuries of conquest and by a cast of dynamic characters, by Cold War intrigue and the rise of its neighbour as a global power, explaining how this tiny island, caught between the agendas of two superpowers, is attempting to find its place in a rapidly changing world order. The Trouble with Taiwan relates the story of a fascinating nation and culture, and how its disputed status speaks to a wider, global story about Chinese control and waning US influence.

The Trouble with the Congo

Author: Séverine Autesserre
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521191009
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 345

Book Description
The Trouble with the Congo suggests a new explanation for international peacebuilding failures in civil wars. Drawing from more than 330 interviews and a year and a half of field research, it develops a case study of the international intervention during the Democratic Republic of the Congo's unsuccessful transition from war to peace and democracy (2003-2006). Grassroots rivalries over land, resources, and political power motivated widespread violence. However, a dominant peacebuilding culture shaped the intervention strategy in a way that precluded action on local conflicts, ultimately dooming the international efforts to end the deadliest conflict since World War II. Most international actors interpreted continued fighting as the consequence of national and regional tensions alone. UN staff and diplomats viewed intervention at the macro levels as their only legitimate responsibility. The dominant culture constructed local peacebuilding as such an unimportant, unfamiliar, and unmanageable task that neither shocking events nor resistance from select individuals could convince international actors to reevaluate their understanding of violence and intervention.

The Trouble with Diversity

Author: Walter Benn Michaels
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1250099331
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Book Description
A critique of the American obsession with diversity argues that we are ignoring the ever-widening economic divide in American society, that diversity has created a false notion of social justice, and that we need to emphasize equality over diversity.