Damned Nations: A Short Introduction to Change

The Q&A that afternoon was designed to discuss her book Damned Nations: Guns, Greed, Armies & Aid, published in 2011. Do yourself a favour and read this book; it is a nuanced, researched, and passionate culmination of the author's two decades of work amidst some of the most intense areas of conflict in the world. Described as a polemic to be devoured in one or two sittings by writer Ian Smilie, I struggle to come up with a better description. Dr. Nutt does not shy away in the slightest from bringing out the facts and figures to condemn the mistakes of those involved in the aid sector. 

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In reading Dr. Nutt’s book, I have slowly come to realize the extent to which people in power can be ignorant. This may sound obvious to some (given recent events), but I was continuously baffled by the degree of incompetence described in dealing with crises. Every year, governments and private donors pour billions of dollars into NGOs and other aid organizations, which are allowed to run themselves into the ground due to poor research, planning, execution, or a combination thereof. Not only do some NGOs fail to improve the quality of life for civilians, but in some instances, they effectively undo economic and social progress. Dr. Nutt cites the example of orphanages built in Haiti after the devastating 2011 earthquake. While the rest of the country lay in ruin, an NGO came in and built an orphanage to help children in need. Not a bad thought. Except, unable to support their children and with no other solution in sight, mothers began leaving their children at the orphanage’s doorstep. Some people claimed that these institutions are “part of Haiti’s social fabric”; Dr. Nutt identifies them as the symptoms of failing foreign aid. Sad to say, but the book is filled to the brim with such missteps.

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What stands out to me the most, and makes Damned Nations such a powerful read, is the people Dr. Nutt has worked or interacted with: from her fellow staff member at War child that faced the mercilessness of war with a wall of dry humour, to child soldiers in rehabilitation who are likely to rejoin the militia once they come of age. She recounts the story of Nadine, a 17-year-old Congolese girl whose soles were slashed by a group of former Mayi-Mayi soldiers in Eastern Congo. She was walking to the local market, looking to buy malaria medicine when she suddenly felt the edge of a knife pressed to her neck. The soldiers dragged her into an alley and raped her, taking turns.  Then, having slashed her soles, they forced her to run away as they chased and taunted her, eventually catching up and raping her again until she fell unconscious. I bawled my eyes out reading her story. Out of sadness, anger and resentment. How could such a gross violation of human rights, of human dignity, be allowed to persist? Merely imagining one of my friends or family members in such situations tears me apart. Like many of my female friends, I’ve been harassed while walking down a street. The inappropriate words that were spoken at me left me feeling ashamed, the scene replaying in my head for a week like a broken record. While a truly disturbing experience, it is a far cry from the experience of young girls being commodified as spoils of war, repeatedly raped, then thrown away like dirty rags. The girls are told to either marry their assaulters or take care of themselves. A combination of factors led to this event: surplus of idle men, low economic development, no working justice system. It will take years of investment and work to improve these interlinked factors. 

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It would be nice to know that human rights violations are completely removed from us. Because they are, after all, happening on another continent, miles away. How am I involved in something so far away? What do I have to do with Congolese soldiers? The Republic of Congo is a resource-rich country, notably in the mining sector. It was estimated that illicit mineral trading has resulted in “$185 million flowing to armed groups”, not just to those in the Congo but into neighbouring countries as well, fueling local and international conflict in that region. Columbite-tantalite (Coltan) is one of the main components in cell phones, video game consoles and computers. The Congo holds 60 to 80 percent of the world’s Coltan deposits and from 2011 to 2014, production of this mineral has increased by “nearly 80 percent”. This indispensable ingredient for tech is used in Global North countries all the time, yet no one knows what it is, much less that is comes from a country in great turmoil. The illegal mining also links back to Nadine. Mapping the individual incidents of rape in the Congo has brought to light that they are more likely to occur around mines controlled by the various militia. Our global economy, the historical conflicts in the region and traditional cultural views agglomerate to create a monster that will make it more likely that other girls will experience what Nadine went through.

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 We are all implicated in these conflicts and crimes. Not just in the duty to uphold basic human rights, but in our country’s duty to prevent crimes against humanity. In 2014, the Harper government signed a 15 billion dollar arms deal with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 2018, the Trudeau government was pressured into reviewing the deal by civil rights activists. They have yet to release anything about the review of the arms deal. Canadian light armoured vehicles (LAV) have been spotted in Yemen, helping to perpetuate a four, almost five, year civil war. There have been over 6,000 civilian casualties including children, and over 10,000 injured. Our Canadian Government is partially responsible for the war crimes--the bombing of hospitals, and other civilian targets--committed in this conflict. The supply of LAVs to Saudi Arabia ends up in the hands of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.

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A defence of this trade deal which I’ve heard multiple times is that the weapons aren’t being supplied to conflict zones and that the cost to Canadian labour of cancelling the 15 billion dollar deal is just too great. Bullshit. Is job security really worth thousands of lives? You can argue that the responsibility of the killings lies with the soldiers on the ground or the corrupt Saudi officials, but we are supplying military equipment to one of the most oppressive countries in the world with a long history of human rights violations. You don’t have to be an analytical expert to see just how absurd that is. Not to mention that the Canadian Pension Plan, which any working Canadian adds to, holds around “$1 billion in investments thirty-seven of the world’s top hundred arms-producing companies.” In the end, Canadian vehicles and, less explicitly, our investments, end up killing innocent civilians; “we are consumers of war.” It's something that we, as Canadians, have to understand, acknowledge and act to stop.

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As Dr. Nutt put it, “War profits from our disinterest.” Awareness of the conflicts and educating ourselves about our indirect involvement is the first step forward. The second step: action. We hold power as consumers through the choices we make in what we buy. Avoiding the buying of electronics is a difficult task due to today’s requirements, but it is possible to at least reduce it. We may not be doctors or journalists but we can help push change along by raising the issues to the ministers in our government and by spreading awareness of injustices around the world. That’s where this blog comes in. Hopefully whatever you read on this blog will motivate you to take action-whether through a feeling of awe, of sympathy, of duty or of anger- just as Damned Nations did for me. 

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Perhaps this conclusion seems too idealistic. To believe that we can actually make a change. I am, after all, a first-year university student with no direction in life. But so was Dr. Samantha Nutt. Before the Q&A session kicked into full swing, we located a picture of a younger Dr. Nutt; one of many blissful graduation portraits that line the walls of the sunlit room. She must have at some point been in a similar situation, having just entered university with no idea what she would do with her education (especially with something as flimsily defined as the Arts & Science degree). Yet she stands in front of a cluster of naive students having seen the extremes of humanity, retelling her experience with optimism forged through the years.