Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The "War on Terror" has politicized foreign aid in a way never before seen, with often devastating consequences. Aid workers are being killed in unprecedented numbers, and civilians in war-torn countries abandoned to their fate. From the battlefield in Afghanistan to the frontier refugee camps in Pakistan, the ravaged streets of Mogadishu to the tense flashpoint of the Turkey-Syria border, Peter Gill travels to some of the most conflict-stricken places on earth to reveal the new relationship between aid agencies and western security. While some agencies have clung to their neutrality, he finds others risking their impartiality in their pursuit of official funding.
In a world where the advance of Islamic State constitutes the gravest affront to humanitarian practice and principle faced in decades, Gill poses the crucial question--can Western nations go to war in a country and aid it at the same time?
Synopsis
'An indispensible inquiry into our moral health and humanity.'
LSE Review of Books
The war on terror has politicised foreign aid as never before. Aid workers are being killed at an alarming rate and civilians in war-torn countries abandoned to their fate.
From the ravaged streets of Mogadishu to the unending struggle in Helmand, Peter Gill travels to some of the most conflict-stricken places on earth to reveal the true relationship between the aid business and Western security. While some agencies have clung to their neutrality against ever stiffer odds, others have compromised their impartiality to secure the flow of official funds.
In a world where the advance of Islamic State constitutes the gravest affront to humanitarian practice and principle the aid community has faced in decades, Gill poses the crucial question - can Western nations fight in a country and aid it at the same time?