Tag Archives: Rwanda

Stop war or aid?

By Elmira Bayrasli | Published: September 15, 2010
Linda Polman is a Dutch journalist who has just published The Crisis Caravan: What’s Wrong with Humanitarian Aid? I came across it through this Boston Globe piece that briefly summarizes its contents as well as an interview with Polman.  I have not read the book yet, but am eager to do so – with trepidation. [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rwanda: Progress or Democracy?

By Elmira Bayrasli | Published: August 15, 2010
Rwanda is on everyone’s mind again.  Sixteen years after the country suffered through a civil war and endured the nightmare of a genocide, we’re once again concerned about the tiny east African nation, no bigger than Maryland.  This time our concern is over the country’s “democracy” in the hands of president Paul Kagame, who won [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Haiti Earthquake: Aid & voodoo, but no answers

By Elmira Bayrasli | Published: January 16, 2010
The Haiti earthquake “is not a natural disaster story.  This is a poverty story,” writes David Brooks in “The Underlying Tragedy,” in yesterday’s New York Times.   Here’s why I agree with him, and still think he’s so wrong. 1. Aid: “We don’t know how,” Brooks says “to use aid to reduce poverty.”  I agree.  Despite [...]
Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments