Foreign Aid

This first link is a good site for general information about foreign aid http://www.globalissues.org/article/35/foreign-aid-development-assistance This second is about why foreign aid is hurting Africa http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123758895999200083.html The third is how to make foreign aid more effective http://africarising2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/will-foreign-aid-reform-help-africa.html

Foreign Aid

Give someone a fish, feed them for a day. Teach someone how to fish, feed them for a lifetime.

While most of government foreign aid is not doing as much as we would want, Africans are real people and it is good to help them in ways that we can.

Charities usually keep a close eye on where and how the money is used. If they don't, then people will stop giving to them.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/150621-pentagon-defends-foreign-aid-as-essential-to-security I would disagree with these statements, because I believe that wealth does not determine morality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y-E6sQ9DvI John Stossel reporting foreign aid and if it really helps in Africa.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRRr78Fs-FE Senator Rand Paul voices his opinion on cutting all foreign aid. He argues that we should stop borrowing money from China to give to Africa and the Middle East.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOrBavSGAB0 Dambisa Moyo, a leading spokesperson on Africa, explains the alternatives to foreign aid and why Capitalism and entrepreneurship are better solutions for Africa.

http://fora.tv/2009/04/21/Wangari_Maathai_The_Challenge_for_Africa Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Wangari Maathai, discusses how Africans would be better off without foreign aid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ4vCKlpdjA FBN 93% of every dollar used for foreign aid goes to consulting.

These are links to a business located near where I am from that sells jewlery made by Africans who are paid fair wages for their work.

http://backtoafrica.myshopify.com/

&

http://www.facebook.com/backtoafricastore

It looks like a more effective way to give them foreign aid.

Foreign Aid and Investment

Here's an article about the downfalls of sending aid to Africa
http://www.matadornetwork.com/bnt/2009/03/26/is-foreign-aid-killing-africa/

And here's an article about some investment China has done http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/65916/deborah-brautigam/africa%E2%80%99s-eastern-promise

Happy reading!

A Critical Look at Foreign Aid

(1.) An opinion article from the New York Times by Pulitzer-winning author Tina Rosenberg. Fair warning - this one is somewhere between medium-length and a little long, but it talks about a cash-on-delivery proposition instead of the current system of foreign aid :

How to Protect Foreign Aid? Improve It

(2.) If you've got access to audio and little time, another perspective to think about - Trailer for Good Fortune, a PBS documentary (length 2 min 37 sec) :

Foreign aid - good intentions gone wrong (trailer for Good Fortune)

*If for whatever reason you can't watch the video (or you want clarification on what you saw in the trailer), there's a summary of the documentary here under "About the Film."

(3.) Another clip of commentary on foreign aid, this one by economist and bestselling author Dambisa Moyo, as presented on The Globe and Mail (length 1 min 39 sec) :

How foreign aid helps fuel the despots

*Alternatively, you can get a look at Dambisa Moyo's views on foreign aid via summary of her book Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working (as presented in a Washington Times book review) here. If you're short on time, I'd skip to the second page. Also note that although it says there are 3 pages, the third page just has a blurb about the book reviewer, who is apparently a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a former special assistant to President Reagan. In other words, there are only two pages of article.

*And just for the sake of completeness, for those who don't know, The Globe and Mail is the largest-circulation newspaper (and second-largest daily circulating newspaper) in Canada.

One more!

An article on the Egyptian facebook page that "sparked" the revolution:

Facebook post that sparked Egypt revolution

Social Media

Media and Technology is a broad topic, but these articles focus on the growing power of social media. I'm assuming everyone knows what facebook and twitter are, but here are a few articles on social media and it's recent involvement in current events.

From Innovation to Revolution

In relation to the Egyptian uprisings in particular:

Massive Egyptian Protests powered by YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Twitpic

Also, an article focusing on the shifts and changes of media coverage- and how these changes (especially during the Vietnam war) changed America and the American mindset of war:

Vietnam on Television

Current events, Media, and Technology

"Current events, Media, and Technology" is a broad topic so here's a few websites to get you started:

http://www.newsfromafrica.org/newsfromafrica/articles/art_10790.html

-Good article about modern technology/media in Africa.

http://geology.com/news/category/africa.shtml

-Website that gives a lot of links to different articles about current geological events in Africa.

http://iwpr.net/report-news/african-media-must-embrace-technology-order-survive

-This video is slightly boring but the message is important.

http://mashable.com/2010/07/19/mobile-africa/

-Information about how mobile technology can help Africa.

Children Soldiers

Sorry these were posted a bit late

http://www.unicef.org/sowc96/2csoldrs.htm

http://www.amnestyusa.org/children/child-soldiers/page.do?id=1051047

-click on some of the links too, like the stories directly from the kids

Here are two more articles that talk about other issues concerning children soldiers. I know I'm posting them late, so just read them if you have time (they are really short)!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/27/AR2010102707157.html?referrer=emailarticle

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/01/AR2011030102257.html?referrer=emailarticle

Child Soldiers

http://irinnews.org/IndepthMain.aspx?Indepthid=24&Reported=66280

March 8: Readings on Children Soldiers

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/.

Most of you have heard of Invisible Children, but in case you haven't or you aren't familiar with the organization's work, the About section on the website is a great read. Also check out History of the War under the About section. It is Africa's longest running war, and many children are being forced to serve in the Lord's Resistance Army, an ever-growing militia that is rebelling against the Ugandan government.

http://www.un.org/events/tenstories/06/story.asp?storyID=100

This is a short article that gives an overview of the LRA's abductions of children in Uganda.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4320858.stm

This is another short article that gives a more in-depth look at LRA's leader, Joseph Kony.

A little light reading...

This is in bullet list form... try to contain your excitement!

http://revcom.us/a/v23/1120-29/1125/timeline.htm

and this is from fox news and a purely opinion article but I thought it was interesting to think about... take what you want from it!

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/02/23/shift-stance-middle-east/

Readings for March 1st

A brief history of American interventions in the Middle East prior to 9/11:
Why Do They Hate Us?

Anything on http://Antiwar.com/ or http://lewrockwell.com/ (Articles on foreign policy specifically: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig2/peace-arch.html) is a great resource as well, although not required.

IRIN Africa | SOMALIA: Human trafficking on the increase | Somalia | Children | Human Rights

IRIN Africa | SOMALIA: Human trafficking on the increase | Somalia | Children | Human Rights

Sex Trafficking in Africa Continued

Hey Everyone,

Here is another fact sheet I found from the 2010humantraffic.org web site. I would recommend checking out this website. It is a wealth of information and will probably help you formulate your discussion questions for Tuesday night.

http://www.2010humantraffic.org/

The Fact Sheet: http://www.2010humantraffic.org/documentation/STOP-Human-Trafficking.pdf

If you go on the 2010humantraffic.org website watch video 1 and 2. They are short and interesting.

Video 1: http://www.2010humantraffic.org/video1.htm

video 2: http://www.2010humantraffic.org/video2.htm

Thanks,

J.J.

Sex Trafficking in Africa

Displacing Diaspora is an article that Maha had suggested for my independent study on women in the developing world and I think it would be a good article for us to read in this class.

"Nigerian sex slave rescue from Mali 'fails'"

"USAID Anti-Trafficking In Persons Programs in Africa: A Review" gives a good overview of USAID and Anti-Trafficking programs in Africa. Read pages 1-7 to get an introduction to the situation. If you would like, read more but I think that just the first 7 pages will be good to get an idea of the problem.

Also, here is a fact sheet I found with basic information on it.

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/about/fact_sex.pdf

South Africa's New Slave Trade and the Campaign to Stop It

Hey Everyone,

It was great meeting all of you tonight and I think this is going to be an interesting six week class for all of us. I hope we all learn a lot. Here's one article I found about Sex Trafficking in South Africa. It is from Time.com and is a short and interesting read. Hope you all enjoy!

J.J.

South Africa's New Slave Trade and the Campaign to Stop It