Planet Slum. Stop the Blanket Militarization of Humanitarian Aid. U.S. foreign aid has never been perfect, but the seeping of military and antiterrorism initiatives into development work threatens to take humanitarian efforts to a new low.
In an attempt to win the hearts and minds of local populations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military reasoned that it must demonstrate the concrete benefits of collaborating with Americans in the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban. They used soldiers and other military personnel to build schools and bridges in these countries -- with mixed success. 2009 Failed States Index - Interactive Map and Rankings.
It is a sobering time for the world’s most fragile countries—virulent economic crisis, countless natural disasters, and government collapse.
This year, we delve deeper than ever into just what went wrong—and who is to blame. Yemen may not yet be front-page news, but it’s being watched intently these days in capitals worldwide. A perfect storm of state failure is now brewing there: disappearing oil and water reserves; a mob of migrants, some allegedly with al Qaeda ties, flooding in from Somalia, the failed state next door; and a weak government increasingly unable to keep things running.