Customer Reviews

Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies, and Aid

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Samantha Nutt's voice in Damned Nations rings heartfelt and true. Most important of all, it is anchored by the people our choices here at home' affect. From rape victims in Eastern Congo, oppressed women in Afghanistan, widowed young mothers in Darfur and fallen human rights heroes murdered for speaking out and following their hearts are the living definitions of injustice that define the gaps in the humanitarian movement.

It is not enough to support 'good' causes. We must adhere to good policy and refuse to exercise apathy. Sam eloquently forces us to reconsider the status quo. She compels us to question the truths that have anchored politics, the practices that characterize charitable giving, the principles on which foreign policy has been built and most important of all, Sam propels us to expect more. To ask more from ourselves, the charities we support, the companies we buy from, the banks with which we invest and the governments we elect.

To define this book as a memoir, or another humanitarian's account of the sector is inaccurate. Damned Nations is the book that all of us who shake our heads at the headlines and who wonder what can be done have been waiting for. It is a manifesto for the next generation of bleeding hearts with brains.
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Sam Nutt is a doctor and a humanitarian who has a mission - to help those who can't help themselves because they are stuck in horrible situations brought on by civil war. She is clearly very passionate about her work with child soldiers and the book really shows us what places like the Eastern Congo or Iraq feel/look like. Highly recommended for students, grad students and anybody else interested in international development/international affairs.