America as a Developing Country
Sting's 1985 masterpiece proves tragically appropriate in 2022.
One of the most moving, powerful songs I’ve ever heard – yes, for those who know me, powerful even in comparison with Springsteen’s stuff – is Sting’s 1985 composition, “Russians.” Released as part of his first solo album, near the height of Cold War fears of nuclear holocaust , it’s a plea for peace at a time of intense international tension.
[Continue Reading]Yes, despair at Ukrainians' suffering. But their struggles, and ours, do not end here.
Tough, horrifying, unprecedented times indeed. Especially for Ukraine, but also for the world. But not all is lost.
Through my international development consulting and research, I’ve had sporadic contact with Ukraine and a smattering of its citizens over the years. Here are a few scattered recollections and impressions, followed by some speculation on where we go from here.
First visiting the country in 1996, when it was still a newly independent state in the wake of the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, I joined a U.S. Government-funded National Democratic Institute (NDI) delegation looking to build contacts with and democracy-oriented training for political party personnel there. I was just an observer, along for the ride to learn about how the NDI operates and to advise it on how to evaluate those operations.
[Continue Reading]More and more, I’m feeling the same way.
I recently wrote about the incredible irony of Americans spurning Covid vaccines that billions abroad would figuratively die for and that millions are literally dying without.
The fury-filled eloquence of Indian journalist Barkha Dutt, addressing her country’s Covid-fueled agony, illuminates the matter far better.
As she observes, “When I hear about the Biden administration’s call for states to pay $100 to anyone getting a coronavirus vaccine, I feel a surge of rage, disgust and bewilderment that it has come to this…The cash-rich Western countries that have not set vaccine mandates are displaying the worst sort of White privilege and unacceptable self-indulgence.”
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Early in my 1987-93 stint in the Philippines, I met with an attorney who conducted paralegal training – that is, sessions aiming to help selected farmers, shanty town residents, women and other disadvantaged groups acquire basic legal knowledge and skills, so as to in turn help their fellow community members with land, housing, domestic violence and other problems. Babes, as he was called (a typical Filipino nickname), explained that “it took me a while to realize that when I thought I was doing paralegal training, I was just giving law lectures” that his audiences didn’t understand.
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Happy St. Patrick’s Day! And some happy memories…
On a trip through Ireland back in 1979, a couple of college friends and I chanced upon a small convenience store run by a cheerful woman.
“Where ya from?” she asked.
“America.”
“Ah, America. A nation of mongrels!”
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