Flash Points, livre ebook

Honorable Mention, 2017 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards in the Political Science Category
From the hot savannah of Malawi to the cold, damp gray of Kosovo and into the volatile war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States and other donors have invested enormous financial and human resources in major peacekeeping and development efforts. Why then is the world no closer to being a "better and safer" place? Both a salient critique of US foreign assistance and a thought-provoking memoir, Flash Points describes the issues with personnel, language, and gender dynamics, as well as the cross-cultural challenges that often undermine and betray the best intentions of policy makers comfortably situated in Washington. Revealed in illuminating flashbacks, Jade Wu recalls her experiences in each of these four countries highlighting how, all too often, Americans in the field and the US government were unable to learn the lessons that ought to have been learned when dealing with host countries and their people. The final results were efforts poorly conceived and executed and, ultimately, detrimental to American national interests.
List of Illustrations
Note on Names, Terms, and Statements
Introduction
Part I. Fresh in Malawi

Flashback One
1. Decisive Call
2. Biggest Fear
3. Settling In or Just Settling?
4. Navigating Intricacies
5. Disturbing Trends
6. Meeting the President
7. No Longer a Guest
8. Politically Correct
9. Working the System
10. Lesson Learned
11. Changed and Unchanged
Part II. Crisis in Kosovo

Flashback Two
12. Manhattan of Humanitarians
13. A New Class
14. No Perfect Solution
15. Dicey Meeting
16. Showdown in a Salon
Part III. Surprise in Iraq

Flashback Three
17. Ultimate Rejection
18. Embarrassing America
19. Behold Iraqi Americans
20. He-whore or Husband?
21. Eye-openers 1–?
22. Fredericks of Baghdad
Part IV. Numbers in Afghanistan

Flashback Four
23. AK-47 as an Accessory
24. Not Here to Question!
25. Who We Were
26. Outnumbered in Kunduz
27. Separate but “Equal”
28. Female Problems, Policy Implications
29. Security Twists
30. Rocking the Boat
31. West Knows East?
32. Not at Any Cost
Part V. Bureaucracy in Washington

Flashback Five

33. A Route Less Taken
Epilogue
Afterthoughts
Acknowledgments
Index