Race Against Time by Stephen Lewis
Race Against Time is a book that looks at the devastating effects AIDS has had on the continent of Africa and the world of the UN in their Millineum Development Goals are attempting to improve the lives of people living with AIDS. The book is actually a completation of Massy Lectures which are centred around the topics of the context of the situation in Africa, the pandemic of AIDS, Education, Women and Solutions to the problems that AIDS creates and the problems associated with getting treatement to those who despirately need it.
The book is quite an easy read, yet still packed full of emotion and passion on Lewis' part. Lewis' optimism is inspiring, but I found it a little unrealistic. Similarly, Lewis is a strong advocate of foreign aid being able to solve a large portion of Africa's problems. Even within the book, there are instances where aid (specificly from sources like the IMF) has cause more damage than good. As outlined by Lewis in the first chapter, where Malawi was told that it could not spend any more money on health care because of the resistrants placed upon the government by the IMF who "generiously" provided Malawi with a loan (referred to as aid by the IMF); "We're talking about a soverign government, fighting the worst plague in history, with but a handful of professionals... and they weren't being allowed -- I repeat, this sovereign government wasn't being allowed -- to hire more staff and pay better salaries, because it would breacch the macroeconomic straightjacket" (14-15). I thought it was great that Lewis is able to point out the problems of aid and of large international organizations and yet still have hope that if these problem are fixed than Africa can be set back on the right track. Despite that fact that I do not personally share Lewis' optimism, I still enjoyed the book. I thought it did a good job of passionately analyzing and then articulating the problems facing AIDS sufferers in Africa.
The book is quite an easy read, yet still packed full of emotion and passion on Lewis' part. Lewis' optimism is inspiring, but I found it a little unrealistic. Similarly, Lewis is a strong advocate of foreign aid being able to solve a large portion of Africa's problems. Even within the book, there are instances where aid (specificly from sources like the IMF) has cause more damage than good. As outlined by Lewis in the first chapter, where Malawi was told that it could not spend any more money on health care because of the resistrants placed upon the government by the IMF who "generiously" provided Malawi with a loan (referred to as aid by the IMF); "We're talking about a soverign government, fighting the worst plague in history, with but a handful of professionals... and they weren't being allowed -- I repeat, this sovereign government wasn't being allowed -- to hire more staff and pay better salaries, because it would breacch the macroeconomic straightjacket" (14-15). I thought it was great that Lewis is able to point out the problems of aid and of large international organizations and yet still have hope that if these problem are fixed than Africa can be set back on the right track. Despite that fact that I do not personally share Lewis' optimism, I still enjoyed the book. I thought it did a good job of passionately analyzing and then articulating the problems facing AIDS sufferers in Africa.
The Bottom Billion by Paul Collier
Paul Collier separates his book into five different section. The first addresses the issue of the bottom billion states. The next talks about the four different factors that can trap a country into the bottom of the development spectrum: conflict, mismanagement of natural resources, landlocked with bad neighbours and finally bad goverance. The third section talks about globalization and how it can actually hurt bottom countries by marginalizing them instead of helping them join the world economy. The fourth section talks about the different instruments with which problems with the bottom billion can try to be resolved: aid, military intervention, laws, better trade policies. The final section then deals with issue of prompting action for the countries in the bottom billion, outlining an agenda for action.
Overall, I had a good impression of the book. I found it fairly easy to read and informative at the same time. What I appreciated the most about the book was probably how much Collier focused on trying to find a solution instead of mearly outlining and describing the problems associated with bottom billion countries. Collier went to great lengths to discuss how the internation community can address and solve these problems alongside these developing countries. I also very much appreciated how Collier came across as passionate, yet realistic about this topic and the problems that correspond with bring up the bottom billion from extreme poverty.
Overall, I had a good impression of the book. I found it fairly easy to read and informative at the same time. What I appreciated the most about the book was probably how much Collier focused on trying to find a solution instead of mearly outlining and describing the problems associated with bottom billion countries. Collier went to great lengths to discuss how the internation community can address and solve these problems alongside these developing countries. I also very much appreciated how Collier came across as passionate, yet realistic about this topic and the problems that correspond with bring up the bottom billion from extreme poverty.
More Books!
More books that I would recommend reading, some related to IS, and some not.
- Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo
- In Xanadu by William Dalrymple
- Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
- Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller
- City of Djinns by William Dalrymple
- The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolve