Flash Points: Lessons Learned and Not Learned in Malawi, Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan

322 Pages·2017·4.08 MB·English

by  Jade Wu

FLASH POINTS

Flash Points
LESSONS LEARNED AND NOT LEARNED IN MALAWI,
KOSOVO, IRAQ, AND AFGHANISTAN
Jade Wu
ee
excelsior editions
an imprint of state university of new york press
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2017 Jade Wu
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
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not apply to the Wikimedia maps.
Excelsior Editions is an imprint of State University of New York Press
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Diane Ganeles
Marketing, Kate R. Seburyamo
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Wu, Jade, 1970– author.
Title: Flash points : lessons learned and not learned in Malawi, Kosovo, Iraq, and
Afghanistan / by Jade Wu.
Other titles: Excelsior editions.
Description: Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, 2017. | Series:
Excelsior editions
Identifiers: LCCN 2016031499 (print) | LCCN 2016039843 (ebook) | ISBN
9781438465456 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438465470 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Economic assistance, American—Malawi. | Economic assistance,
American—Kosovo (Republic) | Economic assistance, American—Iraq. |
Economic assistance, American—Afghanistan.
Classification: LCC HC60.W85 2017 (print) | LCC HC60 (ebook) | DDC
338.91/73—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016031499
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Bruce.
For the brave men and women who tried to make
their professions better by speaking truth to power.
And for the American people, whose hard-earned tax dollars
funded innumerable programs overseas.

It is easy in a time of great events . . . to overlook one of the hard
facts of history: a nation may lose its power and integrity slowly, in
minute particles.
—William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick,
The Ugly American (1958)

Contents
List of Illustrations xiii
Note on Names, Terms, and Statements xv
Introduction xvii
I
Fresh in Malawi
Flashback One 3
1. Decisive Call 5
2. Biggest Fear 11
3. Settling In or Just Settling? 21
4. Navigating Intricacies 31
5. Disturbing Trends 41
6. Meeting the President 45
7. No Longer a Guest 51
8. Politically Correct 55
9. Working the System 61
10. Lesson Learned 65
11. Changed and Unchanged 69
II
Crisis in Kosovo
Flashback Two 77
12. Manhattan of Humanitarians 79
13. A New Class 83