The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity: Business & Financing War (1997)

• published: 08 Jun 2014
• views: 1023

The Road to Hell: The Ravaging Effects of Foreign Aid and International Charity, by Michael Maren, is a book about good intentions gone awry, in the realm of charitable assistance to Africa. The author argues that the international aid industry is a big business more concerned with winning its next big government contract than helping needy people. The focus of the book is Somalia. Among the organizations criticized are World Vision, Save the Children, Christian Children's Fund, UNICEF, CARE, Catholic Relief Services, and USAID. The book argues that relief aid helped bolster the regime of Siad Barre. The book has been cited by some academics as evidence that violent competition for control over large-scale food aid contributed to the breakdown of government in Somalia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Hell_(book) The Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war taking place in Somalia. It began in 1991, when a coalition of clan-based armed opposition groups ousted the nation's long-standing military government. Various factions began competing for influence in the power vacuum that followed, which precipitated an aborted UN peacekeeping attempt in the mid-1990s. A period of decentralization ensued, characterized by a return to customary and religious law in many areas as well as the establishment of autonomous regional governments in the northern part of the country. The early 2000s saw the creation of fledgling interim federal administrations, culminating in the establishment of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in 2004. In 2006, the TFG, assisted by Ethiopian troops, assumed control of most of the nation's southern conflict zones from the newly formed Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The ICU subsequently splintered into more radical groups, notably Al-Shabaab, which have since been fighting the Somali government and its AMISOM allies for control of the region. In 2011, a coordinated military operation between the Somali military and multinational forces began, which is believed to represent one of the final stages in the war's Islamist insurgency. UN Security Council Resolution 733 and UN Security Council Resolution 746 led to the creation of UNOSOM I, the first mission to provide humanitarian relief and help restore order in Somalia after the dissolution of its central government. United Nations Security Council Resolution 794 was unanimously passed on December 3, 1992, which approved a coalition of United Nations peacekeepers led by the United States. Forming the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the alliance was tasked with assuring security until humanitarian efforts aimed at stabilizing the situation were transferred to the UN. Landing in 1993, the UN peacekeeping coalition started the two-year United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) primarily in the south.[15] UNITAF's original mandate was to use "all necessary means" to guarantee the delivery of humanitarian aid in accordance to Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter,[16] and is regarded as a success. Some of the militias that were then competing for power interpreted the UN troops' presence as a threat to their hegemony. Consequently, several gun battles took place in Mogadishu between local gunmen and peacekeepers. Among these was the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993, an unsuccessful attempt by US troops to apprehend faction leader Aidid. UN soldiers eventually withdrew altogether from the country on March 3, 1995, having incurred more significant casualties. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Civil_War