"Damned Nations"

“Damned Nations - Greed, guns, armies and aid.”

This book is chaotic - it is written by a physician, Samantha Nutt, MD who has been working in the international fora for the last couple of decades.  It is a public debriefing and like one, it rambles a bit. Governments, aid organizations, private corporations and well-meaning individuals are all at fault in one way or another - and maybe all with just cause.  A few glimmers of hope trail through the narrative but become buried like her friend, Aquila, in some unnamed desert.

People are being killed, women are being raped, children are taught to kill or starve, and weapons manufacturers are only too happy with their ill-gotten gains. Aid undercuts local entrepreneurs and farmers - but it also tends to be initiated by surplus in the donor countries. Even entrepreneurial do-gooders like Madonna or Oprah find out the hard way that what they think they are doing isn't what is actually happening.

What a dismal world!

Samantha Nutt leaves no stones unturned. She doesn't hide from her own naivety, her own embarrassments or her frailty. This is her story, her story of international involvement, her experiences - what she has seen and done - and, as a narrative, it is a easy two-day read.  But it will stay with you.

(She forced me to remember the people with whom I have worked in Kurdistan, in Pakistan and in the Philippines. My work is entirely different - I am an educator - but there is a synergism. I could not do what she is doing - and perhaps she cannot do what I do - but both of these - and more - are needed if we are going to change this world's political agenda.)

The last chapter of Damned Nations is a gem. “A Just Cause” sets the scene for optimism. While describing activities and actions that further peace in the world, Sam weaves together little vignettes of successful ventures. To the solutions - narrow the gender gap and end poverty - she adds a third - “legal aid” illustrating the importance of having a due process all the way up to the International Court of Justice. Then she devotes a mere four pages to “here's what you should do” - and four pages is all she needs. She's laid the foundation.

Samanth Nutt's a small woman, she says (maybe we'll meet someday and compare sizes) but she is punching way above her class!