ItoBlog

Realism in Darfur

An excellent piece by Christopher Hitchens in today's Slate.com:

Nonintervention does not mean that nothing happens. It means that something else happens. Our policy in Darfur has not just failed to rescue a stricken black African population: It has actually assisted the Sudanese Islamists in completing their policy of racist murder.

Link: Realism in Darfur - Consider the horrors of peace. By Christopher Hitchens.

Making extreme poverty history

I just listened to an interesting radio interview of Jeffrey Sachs recorded yesterday, where he draws on 25 years of work to outline a plan to make extreme poverty history. Bottom line: if every high income country put aside 70 cents for every $100 spent and used those 70 cents on aid for the world's poorest countries, the money raised would ensure that extreme poverty be eradicated and would save lives by the millions. I am always skeptical about international aid, especially destined to Africa, but he makes a very convincing case.

PS: i think i caught the podcast bug. I've been downloading some really good shows onto my iPod this past week. These podcasts are really neat when you think of it.

What African leaders do with international aid

These days, AIDS, debt relief and international aid are the dominant catchwords when talking about Africa and its lingering misery. World leaders, international organisations and leading NGOs (save Transparency International, of course) seem reluctant to discuss or even to raise the issue. Perhaps most emblematic of this "new" approach in dealing with African poverty is Bob Geldof's recent comment where he told a reporter to "Get off the corruption thing". Think again Bob. This fascinating article in the Spectator highlights the flagrant corruption that continues to afflict the continent and explains how after joyriding their way through six Marshall Plans’ worth of aid, Africa is poorer today than 25 years ago and African leaders are asking for more aid.