The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World (New Press People's History)
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • still waiting
  • The Bruised Peoples
  • Good
  • Excellent
  • Worthy read for those interested
The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World (New Press People's History)
Vijay Prashad
Manufacturer: New Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1565847857

Book Description

A landmark study that offers an alternative history of the Cold War from the point of view of the world's poor.

'"Europe" is morally, spiritually indefensible. And today the indictment is brought against it…by tens and tens of thousands of millions of men who, from the depths of slavery, set themselves up as judges.'—Aimé Césaire, Discourse on Colonialism

Here, from a brilliant young writer, is a paradigm-shifting history of both a utopian concept and global movement—the idea of the Third World. The Darker Nations traces the intellectual origins and the political history of the twentieth century attempt to knit together the world's impoverished countries in opposition to the United States and Soviet spheres of influence in the decades following World War II.

Spanning every continent of the global South, Vijay Prashad's fascinating narrative takes us from the birth of postcolonial nations after World War II to the downfall and corruption of nationalist regimes. A breakthrough book of cutting-edge scholarship, it includes vivid portraits of Third World giants like India's Nehru, Egypt's Nasser, and Indonesia's Sukarno—as well as scores of extraordinary but now-forgotten intellectuals, artists, and freedom fighters. The Darker Nations restores to memory the vibrant though flawed idea of the Third World, whose demise, Prashad ultimately argues, has produced a much impoverished international political arena. 12 b/w photographs.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars still waiting.......2007-08-29

In 1927, two hundred delegates from thirty-seven states and regions gathered in Brussels and formed the League Against Imperialism. In doing so they gave an institutional voice to the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of the vast majority of the people in the world who eventually found their countries sandwiched between the "first" world of the United States and the "second" world of the Soviet Union. Not wanting to align with either empire, from that meeting onward the "third world" (a word coined in 1952 by Albert Sauvy) became a prolonged international project and not just a place of misery. The setting was fraught with irony, for Belgium was then led by King Leopold II, whose shameless pillage of the Congo had few peers. In this history of the majority of the world's peoples, Vijay Prashad traces their elusive quest, its problems and pitfalls, and the causes and consequences of its failure.

Prashad's organization takes one on a global tour; each one of his eighteen chapter titles is a major city of the third world project. In Part 1 he considers the quest (Paris, Brussels, Bandung, Cairo, Buenos Aires, Tehran, Belgrade, and Havana); in Part 2 the pitfalls (Algiers, La Paz, Bali, Tawang, Caracas, and Arusha); then in Part 3 the "assassinations" of the project (New Delhi, Kingston, Singapore, Mecca). The third world sought three goals, he says: political independence and self-rule; peaceful co-existence and non-violent international relations; and using the United Nations as the means to push its agenda, all in contrast to the militarism, economic dominance, and ostensible superiority of the American and Soviet spheres. Along the way Prashad tackles most every aspect of this struggle, including education, bureaucratism, land reform, suffrage, religion, revolutionary violence, foreign aid, transnational corporations, the "villigization" of millions of people, the debt crisis, natural resources, and women's discrimination.

The third world project failed badly for many complex reasons. After freeing themselves from the shackles of imperial overlords, countries tended to centralize power in the state instead of establishing effective social democracies, stifled dissent, ignored rule of law, plundered national treasure, and set up military regimes ruled by dictator-thugs ("Nothing good comes from a military dictatorship."). The predator first world continued their economic plunder thanks to the threat of overwhelming military, political, and economic means (globalization, the IMF, etc.). And thus the "catastrophic demise" of the third world project. Crushing debt and widening income gaps between rich and poor nations are only the most obvious signs that most people in the world remain marginalized by their own states and exploited by the first world. But at least they now have a history of their struggle, thanks to Prashad.

4 out of 5 stars The Bruised Peoples.......2007-06-15

This book gets high marks for its sheer wealth of information, though it's not a casual reading experience. Here Vijay Prashad has continued the spirit of Howard Zinn's classic "A People's History of the United States," and this book is a strong inaugural release in what will hopefully be a continuing series. Here Prashad constructs the "Third World" as a Cold War term for all the disadvantaged nations that were caught in the crossfire between the First and Second Worlds, and were usually abused as pawns in the era's strictly bilateral games of geopolitics and development. Specifically, most of Prashad's work concerns the Non-Aligned Movement of nations that tried to resist taking sides in the bilateral Cold War, and attempted to build a coalition of nations that could stand as a viable entity with its own ideologies and political strategies. Prashad provides a wealth of little-known information on the nations and leaders that attempted to build this movement, and the political and economic realities faced by the peoples and societies that were being used and left behind by the superpowers.

Those familiar with Zinn's book will recognize the travails of the passionate historian who can't figure out how to synthesize vast quantities of historical knowledge. The first half of this book is tough to digest, consisting of an interminable laundry list of names and events with little over-arching analysis, giving the impression that Prashad is trying to describe every single thing that happened during the Cold War era outside of the US, Europe, and USSR. Occasional snippets of theory also seem forced and awkward, such as Prashad's examinations of unnatural borders or the behavior of military dictators. Fortunately, the book improves in the second half, as Prashad manages to develop his previously disconnected bits of history and theory into a strong overall analysis of how the superpowers "assassinated" (in his rather hyperbolic term) the Third World movement and its promises of social and economic progress, through globalization, conquest, and corporatism. Most importantly, Prashad does not refrain from criticizing the Third World nations too, as many of them have compounded their own misery by reverting to old styles of inequality and dictatorship. While this book has some real readability issues, and Prashad can sometimes be faulted for steering historical data toward his own theories, the reader is rewarded with a great amount of knowledge on peoples and leaders who have been forgotten in the histories of winners. [~doomsdayer520~]

4 out of 5 stars Good.......2007-04-15

The Third World is a Cold War term, meaning mostly former nations that were ruled by Europeans and won their political independence in the decades after the second world war. That's how most people understand it anyway. It started off as a term of empowerment and hope by the leaders of the newly independent countries in the 1950s, after years of trying to bind the colonized into a single cause. These leaders saw that the First capitalist world and the Second Soviet-bloc world needed the Third world for its resources, people, and support in the global cold war, and they did not want to be pawns anymore.

The Third World Project started in the 1955 at the Bandung Asian-African Conference, when the Nonaligned Movement was founded (NAM) in opposition to the 1st and 2nd Worlds. From here, the Third World was split by internal divisions, attacks by the West and Eastern blocs, and finally outright destruction of the "Third World" by economic policies pushed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United States, as well as political and military attacks by the USA and its allies. In "The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World" by Vijay Prashad, the history of this push for unity, the contradictions of the class of leaders in trying to build this better Third world, the splits within the movement, and the final assassination of the Third World Project.

The book switches between different locations and different situations. Prashad points out that there was a strange contradiction in the work of building a Third World. The ruling class of the decolonized countries supported the new rulers, in many places, who wanted to stand up for themselves. But at the same time, as time went on, they also supported all-powerful dictators and neo-liberal economics that lead to the resources of the country being drained out like vampires (leading to continuation of places which have some of the richest resources of the world and some of the poorest people, like in Congo.) Projects like OPEC started as the "darker nations" tried to control their own politics, though it soon disintegrated into just rulers enriching themselves. In the end, they worked better with ruling classes of the 1st world than the people of their own countries.



Prashad goes to each place, from Singapore, to Indonesia and Suharto, to Baghdad, and explores the rise and fall of the Third World. Today, he ends, the Third World is dead. However, an international movement, free of imposed movements from above or directly by the elites of the government, has arisen and the world is changing to oppose the US. The book is an interesting look at an attempt by the leaders of former colonized places to fight back, though it can be a little disorienting traveling across so many places so fast (which is probably what trying to organize all those places to act together would have been like.) How the First World was able to destroy this movement is a pretty good lesson of history for any person to know.

5 out of 5 stars Excellent.......2007-03-14

I've heard Prashad occassionally on WBAI and am kicking myself for taking so long to get around to his work. This is one of the greatest books ever written on the Third World. Its cogent, lucid and thorough. What I found very interesting was the book's balance. I can imagine how diffult it must've been to explicate each Nation's history in a few hundred pages adequately. He also excelled at depicting just how connected - Poitically / Sociologically and Economically - Third World Nations really are. This is indispensable in understanding the current state of the Third World. Undoubtedly, one for the shelves.

4 out of 5 stars Worthy read for those interested.......2007-02-27

Well done. Bringing together material usually found in national, regional, and international histories the author orders material topically with chapter titles of cities where major events related to each theme happened.

Although not easy reading because much of the material is unfamiliar to most readers, the discussions are handled well and judgements usually sound. It is a wonder that this book could be written at all because of the breadth required. If you know one region of the world this volume will open your eyes and provide rich information for comparison.

Even if one is put off by views reflecting sympathy for the "Darker Peoples", critical of colonial mythmaking and neoliberal globalization alike - the control of the facts and history demands attention.
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations One School at a Time
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Amazing
  • Want to feel better about humanity?
  • Nobel Quality
  • Excellent Read
  • Three Cups of Tea
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations One School at a Time

Manufacturer: Tantor Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 1400102510

Book Description

RunTime: 14 hrs, 12 CDs. The inspiring account of one man's campaign to build schools in the most dangerous, remote, and anti- American reaches of Asia.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Amazing.......2007-10-23

Greg Mortenson is an example of how this world will change. Three Cups of Tea is an amazing book written about an amazing man who dared to love and help the very people that our current government wants us to hate and dehumanize. If ever there was a way to stop terrorism and make our country more secure while improving the lives of women and children this is it. This book and the Central Asia Institute and Greg Mortenson have changed me....let them do the same for you. Read this book!

5 out of 5 stars Want to feel better about humanity?.......2007-10-23

Riveting. Greg Mortenson, having come to care deeply for Pakistan and Afghanistan during his early years as a mountain climber, turns that fondness into a mission to build secular schools for the children of 55 villages... schools that educate girls as well as boys, that respect the deep cultures of the regions and that do not foment radical fundamentalist views or hatred toward the West. Mortenson's dedication and achievements are extraordinary. What makes this book most fascinating is its intimate look at the villagers of Pakistan and Afghanistan, many of whom partnered closely with Mortenson, avidly supported the concept of education -- and taught him the value of taking the time to form deep relationships with the people of these lands, to understand their cultures as well as both the possibilities and the monumental difficulties of collaborating and achieving peace and progress. I highly recommend this book.

5 out of 5 stars Nobel Quality.......2007-10-22

Greg Mortensen represents my America and he does so in vivid contrast to the politician's America that tolerates the corruption and misuse of foreign aid. This story is a must read for anyone who will ever pretend to have an opinion about how the United States of America should use its resources to make the world a better place to live.

5 out of 5 stars Excellent Read.......2007-10-21

OK, so I'm an ex-Peace Corps Volunteer from the sixties; and I could be a trifle prejudiced. Regardless, this is an engrossing book. Greg Mortensen is, in many respects, Everyman. If it CAN be screwed up, ... he screws it up; but he "hangs in there" in extraordinary fashion - and works miracles. I think the guy is a perfect candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. I thoroughly enjoyed this book - and was inspired enough to contribute to his foundation.

5 out of 5 stars Three Cups of Tea.......2007-10-21

I haven't heard a story this inspiring--ever! I have found my Christmas present for everyone high school age or over.
Arab Human Development Report 2004: Towards Freedom in the Arab World
Average customer rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
  • Infected by PCism But Readable
  • The painful truth
  • Regression
Arab Human Development Report 2004: Towards Freedom in the Arab World
United Nations Development Programme
Manufacturer: Stanford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0804751846
Release Date: 2005-04-15

Book Description

In Connection with the UNDP-RBAS

Since 1990, the United Nations Development Program has been providing annual “Human Development Reports” that set out the basic social and economic indicators for the nations of the world. The Arab Human Development Report, which is focused exclusively on the twenty-two Arab states, provides a comprehensive and comparative examination of the region. Filled with charts, tables, and sidebars, the book provides analysis of the current situation, compares Arab performance with other world areas, and provides an agenda for action. Past AHDRs have focused on the deficits of freedom, knowledge, and women’s empowerment that exist in the region; the 2004 edition will focus on freedom and good governance. The reports have received considerable attention from the press, policy makers, and politicians, including Thomas L. Friedman in his column for the New York Times: “There is another tremor shaking the Arab world. This one is being set off by a group of courageous Arab social scientists, who decided, with the help of the United Nations, to begin fighting the war of ideas for the Arab future by detailing just how far the Arab world has fallen behind and by laying out a progressive pathway forward.”

Customer Reviews:

2 out of 5 stars Infected by PCism But Readable.......2006-06-15

Patrick Clawson said that the first Arab Human Development Report in 2002 broke from the usual blame-the-foreigner excuses by Arab intellectuals and concentrated instead on the shortcomings of Arabs themselves as the principal reason for the problems of Arab societies. Not surprisingly, this candor sat poorly with Arab governments and hate-the-West intellectuals. As a result, this report, the third annual volume in the series, includes an executive summary and a chapter that bow in the direction of Arab political correctness, departing from the rest of the volume in its focus on the pernicious West as the source of restrictions on Arab freedoms. A particularly bizarre box criticizes Israel for its restrictions on churches--this in a volume that says not a single word about religious freedom for non-Muslims in the Arab world, not even about the ban on organized non-Muslim worship in Saudi Arabia.

The 2004 report focuses on freedom with chapters on the intellectual basis of freedom, an overview of problematic issues, human rights ("denial of fundamental individual freedoms"), legal architecture ("legislative restrictions on freedom"), political architecture ("the vicious circle of repression and corruption"), and societal structures ("the chain that stifles individual freedom"), before closing with a chapter offering "strategic visions of freedom and governance." In the areas it covers, the analysis is quite solid if usually abstract: the authors obviously felt constrained from offering specific examples about freedom deficits in particular countries.

Even accepting those limitations, the report's approach suffers from some obvious omissions, such as ignoring the rampant discrimination against non-Muslim and non-Arab populations, which are significant minorities in most of the Arab world. (In the four large Arab states of Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, and Sudan, which between them have a majority of the population of Arab states, minorities constitute a larger share of the population than do blacks in the United States.) The report also suffers from the mythology that an "Arab world" actually exists when problems and accomplishments differ remarkably from one Arabic-speaking country to another. Still, Nader Fergany and the rest of his large team are to be congratulated for being blunt about the Arab world's freedom deficit, a topic that only a few years ago would have been unthinkable as a subject for a report from an international organization.

4 out of 5 stars The painful truth.......2005-10-21

The Arab world has failed to meet the challenge of modernity. It has failed to confront antiquated regimes with leaders who seem far from capable of confronting the real problems of their people. The lack of freedom, discrimination against women of this world mark out its backwardness.
The young Arab intellectuals working to change this are to be commended for their effort.

2 out of 5 stars Regression.......2005-06-14

The first The Arab Human Development Report (2002) reasonably diagnosed the three key constraints to development in the Arab world to be the low status of women, lack of knowledge and lack of freedom. The 2003 Report dealt with the knowledge deficit. The 2004 report is concerned with the lack of freedom in Arab countries which is probably the most fundamental of the three deficit areas.

It is unclear whether the authors would have fearlessly, objectively and honestly dealt with this most important issue if given a free hand. However, being sponsored by a UN organization, in which the Arab governments have a major say, they probably never got the chance. They ended up damning with faint praise. Reading between the lines the authors consider that a very bad situation has become even worse.

The authors continue to tiptoe around the relationship between Islamic values and practices and the fact that functional democracies are almost unknown in the Islamic world. They really do not come to grips with why virtually every Arab state is repressive and corrupt even though some were colonized by the British, some by the French, some by the Spanish and a few never colonized at all. They fall back on that old Arab way of avoiding reality - blaming Israel (and oil) though most Arab states neither border on Israel nor have oil.

If these reports do not recover their rigor and intellectual integrity they will just represent so many trees unnecessarily slaughtered in a bad cause.

(...)
Developing Power: How Women Transformed International Development
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Doing good, doing well
Developing Power: How Women Transformed International Development

Manufacturer: Feminist Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1558614850

Book Description

In these compelling testimonies, a distinguished group of 27 pioneering women from 12 countries tell how they fought to ensure that the unprecedented political and economic changes in the developing world would benefit women as well as men. At this crucial historical moment, when women in Afghanistan and Iraq are being excluded from "rebuilding" plans in the wake of U.S. wars abroad, Developing Power offers both instruction and inspiration.

Arvonne S. Fraser has been coordinator of the Office of Women in Development at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and is currently senior fellow emerita of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Irene Tinker was a founder of the Wellesley Center for Research on Women, the International Center for Research on Women, and the Equity Policy Center.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Doing good, doing well.......2005-07-11

This book is a compendium of 27 women's brief and enchanting autobiographies. As pioneers, they broke glass ceilings in some of the most entrenched international bureaucracies, supporting and expanding the role of women in developing countries. Read it as history of women in development, as personal development of gutsy women, or for understanding how creative responses to implacable problems help all of humanity by supporting women.
The Next Great Globalization: How Disadvantaged Nations Can Harness Their Financial Systems to Get Rich
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Get down in the trenches of 21st century globalizationm
The Next Great Globalization: How Disadvantaged Nations Can Harness Their Financial Systems to Get Rich
Frederic S. Mishkin
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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  5. Global Financial Warriors: The Untold Story of International Finance in the Post-9/11 World Global Financial Warriors: The Untold Story of International Finance in the Post-9/11 World

ASIN: 0691121540

Book Description

Many prominent critics regard the international financial system as the dark side of globalization, threatening disadvantaged nations near and far. But in The Next Great Globalization, eminent economist Frederic Mishkin argues the opposite: that financial globalization today is essential for poor nations to become rich. Mishkin argues that an effectively managed financial globalization promises benefits on the scale of the hugely successful trade and information globalizations of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This financial revolution can lift developing nations out of squalor and increase the wealth and stability of emerging and industrialized nations alike. By presenting an unprecedented picture of the potential benefits of financial globalization, and by showing in clear and hard-headed terms how these gains can be realized, Mishkin provides a hopeful vision of the next phase of globalization.

Mishkin draws on historical examples to caution that mismanagement of financial globalization, often aided and abetted by rich elites, can wreak havoc in developing countries, but he uses these examples to demonstrate how better policies can help poor nations to open up their economies to the benefits of global investment. According to Mishkin, the international community must provide incentives for developing countries to establish effective property rights, banking regulations, accounting practices, and corporate governance--the institutions necessary to attract and manage global investment. And the West must be a partner in integrating the financial systems of rich and poor countries--to the benefit of both.

The Next Great Globalization makes the case that finance will be a driving force in the twenty-first-century economy, and demonstrates how this force can and should be shaped to the benefit of all, especially the disadvantaged nations most in need of growth and prosperity.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Get down in the trenches of 21st century globalizationm.......2007-02-12

Whilst Mishkin tells it like it is, you just may want to follow on with "EXTREME COMPETITION" by Fingar, and "THE WORLD IS FLAT," by Aronica and Ramdoo to get to the "what do I do tomorrow."

Great book, Mishkin... readers, keep reading!
Literature from the Axis of Evil and Other Enemy Nations
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • censorship is worse in the u.s
  • Censorship
  • College textbook needed
Literature from the Axis of Evil and Other Enemy Nations

Manufacturer: New Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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  4. My Name Is Red My Name Is Red
  5. Snow Snow

ASIN: 1595580700

Book Description

Short stories and fiction excerpts from Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Syria, Cuba, Sudan, and other countries from whom the government would rather we didn't hear.

"Not knowing what the rest of the world is thinking and writing is both dangerous and boring."—Alane Mason, founding editor, Words Without Borders

During the Cold War, writers behind the Iron Curtain—Solzhenitsyn, Kundera, Milosz—were translated and published in the United States, providing an invaluable window on the Soviet regime's effects on daily life and humanizing the individuals living under its conditions.

Yet U.S. Treasury Department regulations made it almost impossible for Americans to gain access to writings from "evil" countries such as Iran and Cuba until recently. Penalties for translating such works or for "enhancing their value" by editing them included stiff fines and potential jail time for the publisher. With relaxation in 2005 of the Treasury regulations (in response to pressure from the literary and scientific publishing communities that culminated in a lawsuit), it is now possible, for the first time in many years, to read in English works from these disfavored nations.

The New Press and Words Without Borders are proud to be among the first to offer American readers contemporary literature of "enemy nations." Literature from the Axis of Evil includes thirty-five works of fiction from seven countries, most of which have never before been translated into English.

Customer Reviews:

1 out of 5 stars censorship is worse in the u.s.......2007-08-05

I call this literature light and I do not believe that many writers backed out due to fear of reprisal. Writers right here at "home" in the U.S who are nationals live in fear and are silenced. And it's good to look into the lives of editors and publishers of books, see what their husbands do for a living, let's say, to see how honest these books really are. Nothing in this book addresss the current genocide against muslims, not in any real concrete way...this is bullshiite without borders.

5 out of 5 stars Censorship.......2007-05-01

Put together by Writers without Borders, I was sad to read of authors who backed out of this project out of fear of reprisal. Even the first short story of the Vice Principal reflects this fear alive in our world today. Censorship in the US of this misnommer of cultures (Axis of Evil) has encouraged me to read these verses, excerpts and short stories and want to pass the book on to another reader.

5 out of 5 stars College textbook needed.......2007-01-19

My son needed this book for college. Fast shipping and better price than local store.
The Debt Threat: How Debt Is Destroying the Developing World
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Unmissable
  • You "Hertz"ed it here first
  • Should private and public creditor be paid for their loans to corrupt government?
  • Very sensible propositions
  • Honest, but .....
The Debt Threat: How Debt Is Destroying the Developing World
Noreena Hertz
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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  5. IOU IOU

ASIN: 0060560525
Release Date: 2005-01-04

Book Description

With grand announcements, recycled promises, and much hype about debt relief by the leaders of the world's rich creditor countries, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank since 1999, many of us can be forgiven for believing that the debt crisis of the world's poor countries is over. Far from it.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Unmissable.......2006-05-17

The relief of debt for poorer countries is an issue which many support but few really understand. Noreena Hertz is someone who knows what she is talking about. She formerly worked at the World Bank and in now Professor of Economics at Cambridge. She is also a tireless campaigner for debt relief.

What I most appreciated was her ability to explain the economics in a way that was both understandable and convincing. She tells us how the debts came about - often during the cold war in an attempt by the West to gain and maintain areas of influence in the developing world. She also reminds us that many of these loans went to corrupt leaders of countries whose citizens now have to pay the price. As a result basic human needs - food, housing, and healthcare are sacrificed to service the debt payments.

We are left in no doubt that we carry a significant responsibility for this situation. This is why we should lobby our leaders to write of these debts. It is easy to say that fault lies on both sides. That may be so but if poor children have to pay then we who are in a position to do something should do all that we can.

She writes all of this in a very readable style. This book did far more than big events such as Live 8 to convince me of the need to do something. I would urge all readers to get hold of a copy and read it!

5 out of 5 stars You "Hertz"ed it here first.......2006-03-14

Insightful, interesting and accessable. I read this book as part of my disseration research for a critical assessment of World Bank/IMF policy with regards to third world development. Prof. Hertzs' arguements are persuasive and compelling. They demand the attention of the policy-makers, finanical workers and the international community at large. Debt hangs from the neck of the developing world preventing it from standing upright. Prof. Hertz explains that this need not be the case.

4 out of 5 stars Should private and public creditor be paid for their loans to corrupt government?.......2006-01-20

Debt cancellation for developing countries is a subject that has attracted much attention and little real action, despite in 2005 G8 countries and few others have taken some clear-cut commitment. This readable book provides:

a) a quick and simple description as to how developing countries got trapped into unsustainable debt levels. But among developing countries it fails to distinguish between middle-income emerging market economies and low-income economies. Therefore, the author jumps to the conclusion that Argentina (or Turkey) and Somalia (or Botswana) should be treated the same.

b) a simple theory, which suggests that developed countries often offered loans to corrupt governments (or full-fledged dictatorship) of developing countries and therefore, the peoples of those countries cannot bear the burden of servicing that debt, for which they did not benefit at all. Thus understood the problem, the full debt cancellation is a moral (and maybe legal) obligation. The author does not develop further that theory, but in practice she says that those countries that have violated human rights, or more specifically, at the time of borrowing were violating civil and political liberties, and/or economic, social and cultural rights should be provided full debt cancellation. Who and how the violation would be assessed is not clear, but this idea merits to be developed further and into operational detail.

I would recommend it for the general reader and those interested in development issues without prior knowledge.

5 out of 5 stars Very sensible propositions.......2005-05-17

Noreena Hertz's basic principle is that the rights of creditors do not stand above fundamental human rights.
Debt repayments should not be imposed on governments when they could put in danger a minimum level of food, health care, clothing, water, education and housing for the entire population.

But as US president Calvin Coolidge said to the English delegation after WWI: 'We lent you money. Didn't we?'
The fact is that a lot of money was lent to corrupt and despotic regimes (Suharto, Marcos, Abacha, Ceaucescu, Mengistu, the South-African apartheid regime ...). More, after the end of the cold war, the US asked immediate debt repayment from States which were no longer strategically important.

Democratic governments should not be responsible for irresponsible lending by States or International Organizations.
She remarks that 60-70 % of all World bank projects under Mc Namara were failures and that only 10 % were ecologically and socially sound investments.

For her, debt should be forgiven if it was lent to undemocratic regimes, if the investments were against the interests of the majority of the population and when those who gave the money knew for what it was disbursed.
Ultimately, debt forgiveness will ot only favour the poor but also the rich countries, for it should not force nations to implement unsound policies and should improve security in the world.

By the way, she rightly lambastes massive arms investments (4 stealth bombers represent 1 schoolyear for 155 million children) and agricultural subsidies in the US and Europe (every cow receives 2,20 $ per day, or more that 1 billion human beings on our planet).

This book is a must read about a crucial problem for a massive part of the world population.

5 out of 5 stars Honest, but ............2005-04-04

Just as her other great book , The Silent Takeover, this one is an honest effort, well documented and basically well intended.I think Ms. Hertz is brilliant and brave in her exposure of the facts. But...and there is always a but. I think that, her final proposals tend to be naive. Do not misunderstand me. Her proposals would be very good...if and only if, the people with the power to move ahead with the kind of actions that are needed were really interested in the fate of poor countries and in the people of their own countries ( as she very well explains). What they are interested in , I mean the elites everywhere,is in PROFITS and power..that is the reason and the blood of limitless capitalism. All other issues, including the welfare of the people or the environment are simply not considered.
Another point is that the role of the corrupt political elite in third world countries is in some way minimized. These guys are gangsters and must be treated as such. But instead they are very well treated by the political and corporative elites in the developed nations...and when they no longer represent PROFITS or geopolitical advantages they are simply discarded..Just remember Noriega or Saddam...The sad point is that the people of these countries can not discard these gangsters by their own means..Why?? Because of the support the corrupt Govts' receive from the rich countries..And they preach about moral and ethics....!!! Very good read....Worth your time.
India: Government and Politics in a Developing Nation
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    India: Government and Politics in a Developing Nation
    Stanley A. Kochanek , and Robert L. Hardgrave
    Manufacturer: Wadsworth Publishing
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    IndiaIndia | Asia | History | Subjects | Books | Ancient
    GeneralGeneral | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
    Practical PoliticsPractical Politics | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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    GovernmentGovernment | Political Science | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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    ASIN: 0495007498

    Book Description

    INDIA: GOVERNMENT and POLITICS IN A DEVELOPING NATION, 7e, is the authoritative textbook on India. The text discusses India's political and economic development, its experiences with democracy, its foreign policy, and its institutional structure. Kochanek and Hardgrave do a very thorough job of discussing all of this within a broader historical and cultural context. This new edition includes coverage of the latest elections and governmental changes, as well as coverage of India's growth as an economic market.
    Financing Urban Shelter: Global Report on Human Settlements 2005
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      Financing Urban Shelter: Global Report on Human Settlements 2005

      Manufacturer: Earthscan Publications
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

      GeneralGeneral | Poverty | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
      DemographyDemography | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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      This Report examines the challenges of financing urban shelter development, focusing on the shelter needs of the poor and within the overall context of the United Nations Millennium Development target on slums. By 2030, an additional 3 billion people or about 40% of the current world’s population will need housing. If adequate financial resources are not invested in the development of urban shelter and requisite services, this additional population will also be trapped in urban poverty, deplorable housing conditions, poor health and low productivity, thus further compounding the enormous slum challenge that exists today.
      Human Rights and International Political Economy in Third World Nations: Multinational Corporations, Foreign Aid, and Repression
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        Human Rights and International Political Economy in Third World Nations: Multinational Corporations, Foreign Aid, and Repression
        William H. Meyer
        Manufacturer: Praeger Paperback
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback

        InternationalInternational | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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        ASIN: 0275962806

        Book Description

        What impact do international economic inputs have on human rights in Third World nations? William Meyer explores the effects of direct investment by U.S. multinational corporations, economic and military aid, and MNC manufacturing plants. He examines the international political economy of human rights at both the national and the international levels. Case studies are combined with quantitative studies that use aggregate cross-national data. Theories that link MNCs to human rights are subjected to empirical testing. As Meyer illustrates, at the national level, human rights violations are associated with US MNCs in Chile, Honduras, India, Indonesia, and Mexico. MNCs have been especially guilty of violating labor rights, particularly through their reliance on sweatshops. MNCs have also been responsible for widespread pollution and environmental degradation. At a broader international level, increased investment by MNCs tends to go along with human rights improvements in the Third World as a whole. Meyer shows that there is a broad positive relationship between direct investment by MNCs and broader political rights and improved living standards. Aggregate data are also analyzed for human rights as compared to U.S. economic and military aid. Economic aid is found to be associated with improved civil-political rights and improved socioeconomic rights. Military aid, by contrast, is associated with declining levels of civil rights and with lower levels of social welfare.

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