One of the most pressing issues the Iraqi people face today is a shortage of potable water. In 2010, the International Community of the Red Cross estimated that one in every four Iraqis did not have access to drinkable water. Iraq is known as the land of the two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, …
Tag: International Aid
May 17
The Importance of US Military Withdrawal from Iraq
Until recently, there was little reason to doubt that the 2008 Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the US and Iraq would be honored and all US forces would be out of Iraq by December 31st, 2011. As the deadline nears, the agreement is being called into question. This is a mistake. Withdrawing US forces …
May 12
Aid to Iraq – USAID and Power
On Tuesday, I wrote about the basics of Iraq Aid, pointing out a few of the key issues that are being addressed by international aid organizations. One of the most influential of these organizations is the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has provided over $7.4 billion in aid to Iraq since 2003. …
May 10
Aid to Iraq – The Basics
A few years ago, Iraq was a hot topic of discussion. In the US, it seemed everyone had a friend or family member in some stage of deployment there. The news headlines flashed stories of Iraqi elections, sectarian struggles and attacks on Coalition Forces. Even if US citizens weren’t completely informed on the events taking …
Apr 20
Put Food First: The World Bank’s Open Forum
The World Bank has asked us to imagine living on $1.25 a day and spending 85 cents of that to feed our families. I have also read about estimates which state that nearly 1 billion people from around the world go to bed hungry every night. These are thought-provoking facts but the truth is that …
Apr 11
Vulture Funds and Sovereign Debts
A couple of years ago, celebrities like Bono and highly respected individuals like Nelson Mandela brought our attention to the importance of debt relief and what such relief might mean to developing countries. Ironically, at the same time, many countries began to understand the importance of having a secondary market for debt especially when dealing …
Apr 01
Responsibility to Protect
Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a relatively new concept in political theory. Basically, it is the idea that governments everywhere have a responsibility to uphold and protect the human rights of their citizens. And, if a state is unwilling or unable to do so, it is the duty of the international community to step in …
Mar 22
Human Rights vs. Oil
On March 17th, the United Nations Security Council voted to establish a no-fly zone over Libya, which allows for all measures short of foreign occupation. This is an addition to Libya being referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which I wrote about in my blog on March 3rd, and which itself was unprecedented in …
Mar 17
Understanding Lenses
On Tuesday I wrote about the “Sexy Disaster Effect,” but during the editing process, it came to my attention that portions of my piece could imply several things, which were unintentional, about the residents and countries I was describing. With more thought on the subject, I would like to add additional points to continue the …
Mar 16
Japan’s Punishment: Can we really be this ignorant?
We have all watched in disgust as Glenn Beck has brought himself ratings by speculating on the divinity of the Japanese earthquake of March 11. Even gossip blogger Perez Hilton has come out against an Evangelical perspective on atheist Japan being “woken up” by God. However, before Mr. Beck had a chance to opine on …