What determines the humanitarian military response?
Most of us prefer to avoid using the military and killing people to solve problems. At least, that’s what we say — that we prefer non-violence. Hollywood and the entertainment industry, however, seem...
View ArticleNew humanitarian standard for warfare?
Except for euphemistically calling warfare “intervention,” I think this article in The Atlantic about our current military efforts in Libya “The New Standard for Humanitarian Intervention” is a good...
View ArticleWith Bin Laden’s death, foreign aid to Pakistan under the microscope
Now that Osama Bin Laden is dead, many are taking a hard look at the massive U.S. program of foreign aid to Pakistan – about $3 billion a year, half of that to pay them for helping us fight terrorism....
View ArticlePresident Obama says two interesting things about the Middle East
President Barack Obama said a lot today in his speech focused on our policy approach to the inflamed Middle East, but two things stood out for me: 1. He sided with popular revolutions trying to...
View ArticleLet’s bring about world peace while Tom Paulson is gone for two weeks
Updated with new information at 6 p.m. August 8th, 2011 Since Tom Paulson is going to be away on vacation for a full two weeks, I thought I would tackle some of the major problems we face today,...
View ArticleThe case for divorcing foreign aid from military support
Development expert and economist Bill Easterly, writing in The Guardian, argues that A firewall should be built between U.S. foreign aid and national security. Says Easterly: US foreign aid programs...
View ArticleNils Daulaire brings his fight to Seattle – Global is local!
“Our only chance to keep Americans safe is if the systems for preventing, detecting and containing disease … also stretch across the globe,” Nils Daulaire. By Lisa Stiffler, special correspondent Many...
View ArticleSearching for Truth About Rape in DR Congo
Victims of sexual violence, Kivu clinic 2010 Flickr, andre thiel What really happened in a village near Luvungi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in August 2010? At least 200 fighters from the...
View ArticleThe dilemma of eating locally and hurting others globally
Farmer plants rice in the Philippines. Credit: International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Want to change the world? Many tell you to start at the grocery story…or with your local farmers market. Eat...
View ArticleMuch Ado about Power and Rice
Donilon, Obama, Rice and Power walk in the Rose Garden of the White House, yesterday. Evan Vucci If there were such a thing as a foreign policy earthquake, the magnitude of yesterday’s White House...
View ArticleHow PlayPumps are an example of learning from failure
PlayPumps Service Project PlayPumps are a go-to example of failed aid interventions. The merry-go-round powered by playing children pumped water out of the ground. The idea was that children filled...
View ArticleBeyond rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is by many measures one of the world’s most difficult places to live. Government instability, rebel attacks in the east, terrible health services and more...
View ArticleUN certain chemical weapons used in Syria, US agrees, Russia dissents
UN SG Ban shares remarks on the chemical weapons report. The much anticipated report from United Nations chemical weapons inspectors in Syria was finally released on Monday. The group’s findings...
View ArticleA neglected ‘cold war’ and humanitarian tragedy at our doorstep
Guest op-ed by Mauricio Vivero, executive director at the Seattle International Foundatrion (a backer of Humanosphere, full disclosure). This post first appeared in the Huffington Post. Vladimir...
View ArticleUSAID leader announces departure
It’s official. Dr. Rajiv Shah, U.S. Agency for International Development administrator for roughly five years, is leaving in February. His departure marks the end of a period notable for significant...
View ArticleGovernment scheme sparks brain drain controversy in Uganda
The decision by Uganda to send nearly 300 medical professionals the Caribbean has sparked a controversy that extends beyond the East African nation. Belgium says it will make cuts to the €11 million in...
View ArticleHumanitarian assistance struggling to do its job, protect vulnerable people
An investigation is underway following fresh claims of sexual abuse perpetrated by international forces in the Central African Republic. In Syria, a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders was...
View ArticleTrump gets a lot of things wrong on foreign policy, particularly the role of aid
Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s foreign policy views have become clearer thanks to recent conversations with the editorial boards at the New York Times and the Washington Post. Trump...
View ArticleU.S. presidential campaign in the Humanosphere #3: What about the rest of the...
This is the third story in a running series of dispatches providing analysis on issues that come up in the U.S. presidential primaries and election that are relevant to the Humanosphere. Global poverty...
View ArticleUncertainty drives mixed reactions to Trump’s win from world leaders
As part of the U.S. electoral pageantry, world leaders rush to weigh in on the results. But with a president-elect who brings no political experience and vague campaign pledges, world leaders'...
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