Linda Polman Explained

Linda Polman (born 1958 in Amstelveen) is a Dutch freelance journalist and author of three books on humanitarian aid and intervention: We Did Nothing, War Games, and The Crisis Caravan.

Author

We Did Nothing

Polman's book We Did Nothing: Why the Truth Doesn't Always Come Out When the UN Goes in was first published in 1997 in Dutch and later published in English.[1]

Martin Woollacott reviewed the book along with the book A Problem from Hell by Samantha Power, for The Guardian. He concluded: "We have yet to work out properly how the post-twin towers interventions relate to those that went before. But there is obvious irony in the fact that while previously, as these books illustrate so clearly, determination was often lacking to deal with crises that most people agreed were serious, there was no shortage of it when the Bush administration moved to deal with a crisis on which there was no global consensus at all."[2] The book was also reviewed by Hugh O'Shaugnessy in The Observer alongside Never Learn to Type: A Woman at the United Nations.[3]

War Games

Polman's book War Games: The Story of Aid and War in Modern Times argued that humanitarian aid intervention often ended up fueling wars and making them worse. Her book cited the example of the Rwandan genocide, where humanitarian groups facilitated the flow of aid to Hutu militia who were involved with the killing, rather than the Tutsi who were genocide victims.[4] Her work was discussed in The Guardian.[5] The Humanitarian Policy Group at the Overseas Development Institute issued a written response to the book.[6]

The Crisis Caravan

Polman's book The Crisis Caravan: What's Wrong with Humanitarian Aid?[7] was reviewed in The Economist,[8] Foreign Affairs,[9] and the Huffington Post.[10]

Media appearances

Linda Polman has appeared on The Daily Show to discuss her book, The Crisis Caravan.[11]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Polman, Linda. We Did Nothing: Why the Truth Doesn't Always Come Out When the UN Goes in. February 5, 2004. 978-0141012902.
  2. Web site: Too little, too late. From Rwanda to the Balkans, the 90s was the decade of botched interventions. Martin Woollacott on two studies of the west's failure to confront genocide from Samantha Power and Linda Polman. Woollacott. Martin. July 4, 2003. June 11, 2014.
  3. News: United it falls. The UN stands condemned twice over by memoirs from Margaret Joan Anstee and Linda Polman, says Hugh O'Shaugnessy. O'Shaugnessy. Hugh. July 19, 2003. June 11, 2014. The Observer.
  4. Book: Polman, Linda. War Games: The Story of Aid and War in Modern Times. 978-0670919772. March 1, 2011.
  5. News: Does humanitarian aid prolong wars? Linda Polman believes the business of international aid - from Ethiopia to Rwanda to Afghanistan – is only helping gangsters and fighters, while innocent victims suffer on. Anthony. Andrew. April 24, 2010. June 11, 2014. The Guardian.
  6. Web site: Aid and war: a response to Linda Polman’s critique of humanitarianism. Overseas Development Institute. May 2010. June 11, 2014.
  7. Book: Polman, Linda. The Crisis Caravan: What's Wrong with Humanitarian Aid?. 978-0312610586. August 30, 2011. Picador.
  8. News: Feeding the beast: What's wrong with emergency assistance?. October 14, 2010. June 11, 2014. The Economist.
  9. Web site: The Crisis Caravan: What’s Wrong with Humanitarian Aid. Cooper. Richard N.. Richard N. Cooper. November–December 2010. June 11, 2014. Foreign Affairs.
  10. News: 'The Crisis Caravan': Charity's Road to Hell?. Hall. Peter Christian. October 11, 2010. June 11, 2014. Huffington Post.
  11. Web site: Linda Polman. https://web.archive.org/web/20140714224908/http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/9l8232/linda-polman. dead. July 14, 2014. The Daily Show. September 29, 2010. June 11, 2014.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Linda Polman".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.