Comments on: Episode 10: Oxford http://developmentdrums.org/145 A podcast about the news in international development and the fight against global poverty. Sat, 01 May 2010 20:33:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Paul speaks on Development Drums about new book War, Guns and Votes | The Bottom Billion Blog http://developmentdrums.org/145/comment-page-1#comment-66 Paul speaks on Development Drums about new book War, Guns and Votes | The Bottom Billion Blog Sat, 07 Mar 2009 13:32:25 +0000 http://developmentdrums.org/?p=145#comment-66 [...] Listen to Paul speaking about new book Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places on the latest installment of Development Drums.  [...] [...] Listen to Paul speaking about new book Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places on the latest installment of Development Drums.  [...]

]]> By: Melvin Woodhouse http://developmentdrums.org/145/comment-page-1#comment-65 Melvin Woodhouse Sat, 07 Mar 2009 06:42:42 +0000 http://developmentdrums.org/?p=145#comment-65 Not withstanding that I have yet to read Wars Guns and Votes, I wonder about the practcal dimensions of the policy measures proposed. If the rationale for ISA's is that investing in government to improve governance doesnt work where it is most important....well how is this squared this with the deja vu of the 90's where much aid was already being chanelled thro NGOs etc but gave rise to ideas for investing in governance and budget support etc etc. A "soft cap" on military expenditure I find befuddling. Is this a "tax" applied at source or point of use? The "benign hegemon" makes/ buys lots of weapons for "defence" to "increase stability" , but as we know, then uses them in "pre-emptive" actions which it argues are legitimate. So the legitmacy of how many weapons you have and how you use them is a fuzzy yardstick, and unlikely to be swallowed when it means loosing aid. How to cope with the looming brush of aid hypocrisy? What of a podcast about "witholding aid" rather than giving it....as a legitimate act of "retorsion" ? regards melvin Not withstanding that I have yet to read Wars Guns and Votes, I wonder about the practcal dimensions of the policy measures proposed. If the rationale for ISA’s is that investing in government to improve governance doesnt work where it is most important….well how is this squared this with the deja vu of the 90’s where much aid was already being chanelled thro NGOs etc but gave rise to ideas for investing in governance and budget support etc etc.

A “soft cap” on military expenditure I find befuddling. Is this a “tax” applied at source or point of use? The “benign hegemon” makes/ buys lots of weapons for “defence” to “increase stability” , but as we know, then uses them in “pre-emptive” actions which it argues are legitimate. So the legitmacy of how many weapons you have and how you use them is a fuzzy yardstick, and unlikely to be swallowed when it means loosing aid.

How to cope with the looming brush of aid hypocrisy? What of a podcast about “witholding aid” rather than giving it….as a legitimate act of “retorsion” ?
regards

melvin

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