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conflict resolution requires richer neighboursconflict resolution requires richer neighboursPosted May 30, 2006 11:12 UTC (Tue) by copsewood (subscriber, #199)In reply to: what about the thugs? by filteredperception Parent article: OLPC hardware details posted
When my brother visited Ghana to audition music and dance groups to perform in Scotland last year he travelled through rural areas on the local busses and reckoned crime was more of a problem in Glasgow than in Ghana. Most of the people there are dirt poor and determined to improve their lot by legitimate means. When the peaceful neighbours of the few places in Africa which suffer civil war can afford it, these neighbours will want to help in conflict resolution. So maybe the long-term solution to long-standing conflicts in places like Darfur, Congo and Seirra Leone will come from more rapidly-developing neighbours. Currently the UN has the will and the authority to do conflict resolution but not the funding.
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conflict resolution requires richer neighbours Posted May 31, 2006 4:00 UTC (Wed) by xoddam (subscriber, #2322) [Link] I reckon crime was a much bigger problem in Glasgow in 1986 than it isnow, too (I lived there 2001-2003). Inequality breeds disrespect; development permits civility. http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/inequal/2001/1125inco... There is no good solution to the Darfur conflict; probably no solution at all except depopulation, which is proceeding apace. The region no longer receives sufficient rainfall to support its population without severe rationing, which it doesn't have a government strong enough to impose, so violence, famine and mass exodus are the inevitable result. The only sensible long-term use of such land resources is nomadic, following the monsoon, but a long wet period in the 1960s led to permanent settlement and rapid population growth while long-term nomads who failed to settle are now denied territory in all parts of their range. The Sahel no longer receives a reliable monsoon, almost certainly because of global warming. That, and inadvisable cultivation of marginal near-desert lands, is likely to hinder any reasonable development of most arid near-sub-Saharan parts Africa for a long time to come. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahel_drought http://www.eden-foundation.org/project/desertif.html Congo and Sierra Leone certainly don't fall into this zone though, so your scenario of constructive 'neigbourly' development may be applicable elsewhere.
Some good footnotes on Darfur / East Africa rainfall Posted May 31, 2006 5:42 UTC (Wed) by xoddam (subscriber, #2322) [Link] are to be found at the bottom of this (otherwise not entirely relevant)article: http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2006/05/30/the-inspectors...
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