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The more we sweat in peace the less we bleed in war. - Vijaya Lakshmi Pandi

Give to Pakistan to Help Flood Victims

According to humanitarian organization, CARE, Pakistan is currently suffering from the worst flooding the country has experienced in over eighty years. Twenty percent of Pakistan is under water, and the lack of contributions by individuals, organizations, and international governments has slowed recovery efforts and prevented many from recieving basic resources. Seventeen million people in Pakistan are affected by the recent flooding, and 5 million remain homeless. The good news is, you can still help.

The BBC has reported that international aid has been slow in reaching flood

victims in Pakistan, and the UN By texting the word SWAT to telephone number 50555, cellular phone users will be able to donate $10 to help flood victims in Pakistan through the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

If you would like to contribute to a specific organization, here is a list of a few who are conducting their own operations on the ground in Pakistan:

CARE: Over 17 million people need our help urgently. CARE is on the ground providing shelter, health care and emergency supplies to survivors. Reports of outbreaks of waterborne diseases are continuing to increase. The planting season is expected to start in September, and if we can’t help people recover soon, they will miss the planting season and lose a harvest — which means people will be dependent on food aid for much longer.

UNICEF is supplying clean drinking water for 1 million flood victims daily and has begun vaccinating against polio and measles in the affected areas. Many familes remain vulnerable to water-borne diseases and malaria, both of which can prove fatal for children without necessary treatment and preventive supplies.

Save the Children has staff in the region and is mobilizing to rush aid to displaced children and families who need essential supplies. They are ready to provide more relief as conditions allow and to help protect children from further harm.

So please, choose an organization you think will best utilize your funds to help Pakistani families survive this terrible disaster. We need to surpass fear-mongering tactics invoking terrorism as a means to leave people unassisted through the flooding. Lets show our friends in need that we will be there for them during tough times. Generosity in troubled times goes to show others that we can be positive allies in the interim.

Failed State Index 2010

Fragile, unstable, disastrous, dysfunctional, failed. All of these words have been applied to describe the 10 countries that top the Failed States Index. Developed by Foreign Policy Magazine together with the nonprofit Fund For Peace, the Failed States Index annually analyzes over 90,000 sources to rank 177 countries on their state of health or decay. Twelve social, economic, and political indicators are used to rank these states into four categories that range from failed to sustainable status.

According to NPR, Foreign Policy Magazine first introduced the phrase failed state to policy analysis vernacular in 1992. This phrase, now in wide circulation, is meant to indicate a state whose government cannot provide protections and basic services for their citizens. This index was used to illustrate the need for change in policy to effectively address conflict and development concerns within unstable countries. Somalia is listed as #1 on the Failed State Index, which as Elizabeth Dickinson of Foreign Policy discusses with NPR, acts as a classic example of a country which cannot control its territory, or protect its people. Although Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asserted that failed states are the preeminent security problem of our time, the United States continues to encourage a solely military foreign policy to address the needs of Somalia. The United States government, specifically the Departments of State and Defense, lacks a formal strategy in dealing with failed states. The current model of response is minimalist: addressing problems after they arise instead of focusing on development opportunities to assist in supporting infrastructure. This policy is reactive at best and ad hoc at worst. The debilitating combination of a reactionary policy coupled with the tendency to respond solely with military action is not sustainable as a development policy, and will not be successful in addressing the humanitarian needs of these failed states.

Moving forward, big questions arise. What is/ should be the US' role in policing failed states? What is the international community's responsibility? How do we help currently failed states reach economic growth, as Colombia and the Dominican Republic did? If failed states are the preeminent concern of our time, why aren't we doing more to facilitate development?

These questions will continue to rise to the forefront of international policy. Personally, I do not think that continued military presence is the key to changing the course of failed states, as we saw primarily with Somalia, and see now with Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan. Diplomacy, dedication, and an emphasis on internal infrastructure will get us started, but it is up to the international community to support each other through entrepreneurial and innovative means, using local talent and comparative resources.

Contributing activist Emily W. shared the Failed State Index as an addition to The Peace Report's earlier discussion on poverty and unequal income distribution. Muchisimas gracias a Emily, and if you would like to add to the discussion, please comment below, or send in your ideas.